


Seven Days In Heaven

by KariiAnuma



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Drugged smoothies??, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), How Do I Tag, It messes up emotions, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pidge is behind this, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space smoothies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-03-27 00:29:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KariiAnuma/pseuds/KariiAnuma
Summary: Lance has a smoothie (actually 3) and Keith tries his best™





	1. Smoothies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a smoothie (actually 3) and Keith tries his best™

Keith wasn't quite sure _how_ he had ended up two inches from Lance's face, but here they were. Whatever had happened, Keith ended up grabbing Lance's jacket and pulling him closer.

“Keith..?” Lance whispered, visibly uncomfortable.

The other male's eyes flitted around, landing on everything, anything, but Keith. Finally, those blue irises met his own. The anger on Keith’s face slowly melted as he met Lance’s gaze. It was only for a split second, but it was enough. Keith could see his nervous blue eyes, and quiznak why were they so— wait, no, Keith wasn’t doing this. But at this point, it was too late. Keith could feel a blush creeping up his face and on his neck. Remembering his hand was tightly clasped onto Lance’s jacket, Keith almost immediately let go of the fabric. Stepping back awkwardly, Keith let his hair fall in his face to try and hide his crimson cheeks.

“I-I’m going to go to my room now.” Lance blinked, then quickly turned down a hall, leaving Keith alone and flustered.

Okay, what was that? Since when did Keith lose his words around Lance? Lance of all people! He should have had a comeback ready to spew, but instead, he just stared. He was captivated by Lance’s pale blue irises that met his gaze. Why? Keith didn’t know. But he did know that it gave him an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. And when Lance walked away, it was as though Keith couldn’t say anything. All he did was stand there awkwardly as Lance dashed, literally dashed, off. And as Lance left, it hurt. Normally when Lance was pissed at him Keith didn’t care, but this was different.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at him...what were we even arguing about?” Keith muttered to himself quietly as he made his way over to the training deck. He could feel his face cooling. Good, now he could try and forget whatever it was that just happened.

~~~~~~~

After a few minutes of walking through the hallways, he arrived at the training deck. The door slid open before him, and he stepped inside. Keith made his way to the middle of the large space and dropped into a fighting stance.

“Begin training sequence four,” Keith muttered. His red bayard materialized as the floor in front of him opened up. The gladiator, a new one considering the original one was thrown out of an airlock, rose from beneath the training room’s floors. Without warning, it rushed forward, staff in hand. Keith effortlessly dodged the pole by rolling to his left. As the gladiator composed itself, he quickly rose and slashed its back. The wounded gladiator fell to the floor, and the training sequence ended.

“Start training sequence number five.” He commanded the castle thoughtlessly.

At the word of Keith’s command, the gladiator rose and quickly re-powered itself. He took a few steps back as the gladiator returned to its normal state. As quick as lighting, the machine whipped around and narrowly missed Keith's face with its staff. Quicker than Keith could recover, the gladiator kicked him square in the stomach. The sharp pain his abdomen made him gag, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Flying backward, Keith was slammed straight into the floor.

Suddenly, it felt as though he couldn’t breathe. The air had been knocked out of him, and sheer panic coursed through his blood. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the gladiator had an automatic stop, but it didn’t. The gladiator wouldn’t stop until the training sequence was ended, but Keith couldn’t find the air in his lungs to speak. He could only helplessly watch as the gladiator charged in his direction.

Then, a loud zapping noise sounded through the training deck. The gladiator fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and Keith's eyes flitted up to find Lance with a panicked expression on the balcony.

“Are you okay?!” Lance sounded beyond worried as he rushed down the stairs to Keith.

Keith was still attempting to catch his breath, so when Lance frantically came running towards him, Keith couldn’t really answer. He just looked towards the fallen gladiator hoping to hide the fear in his eyes. He couldn’t seem vulnerable, not in front of anyone (especially Lance).

Keith didn’t know how long it had been until he was able to catch his breath. Thirty seconds? Two minutes? However long it had been, Lance hadn’t left his side, and Keith was oddly grateful. Lance being there made him more...calm for some reason. Though, he’d never let Lance know that.

“You know.....that Fran.....frantic look....doesn’t suit you,” Keith answered after a while of panting on the floor.

“I know it doesn’t, so I would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn’t scare me half to death. It’s not good for the skin. Or the brain.” Lance moved to sit next to Keith on the floor.

“Definitely not good for your heart rate.”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

“You weren’t the.... one about to die. Try....seeing how I feel.” Keith muttered breathlessly. Turning his head away from the fallen gladiator to face Lance, Keith could feel his breath becoming less and less uneven.

“Wait– you were scared? Why?” Keith inquired Lance, but soon realized it was a dumb question. Without Keith, they couldn’t form Voltron. Duh.

“I-I... why do I have to explain myself?” Lance yelled suddenly.

“I can’t help you without a reason? Or because it was the right thing to do? Not even a thank you.” His tone had changed to anger, frustration, or even something in between.

“Wow, Keith.”

Keith was taken aback. He didn’t mean it like that, he was just saying what was on his mind. He wasn’t thinking, and that was something Shiro told him he needed to work on. ‘Think before you speak, Keith!’ He thought to himself while shifting uncomfortably.

“Jesus– Lance, I’m sorry. Okay? I was just .....teasing. I’m grateful to you...for saving my life, really.” Keith felt a pang of guilt in his gut. ‘Great, I’ve officially pissed Lance off two times today.’ Keith licked his lips nervously.

“Forgive me?” He asked sheepishly.

Lance sighed before standing up.

“Apology accepted. Now, I’m going to the kitchen to check on Hunk.” He swiftly strode out of the training room leaving Keith with an empty feeling in his place.

With nothing else to do, Keith heaved himself up from the floor and headed for the solitude of his room.

~~~~~~~

Keith was pulled out of his train of thought as a soft knock on the door and a muffled voice filled his ears.

“Hey, it’s Lance. Can I come in?”

“Uh, Yeah. Sure.” Keith kept his words brief. Just. Play. It. Cool.

Lance walked in stiffly.

“Look, man, I’m sorry I flipped out on you earlier... I’m just really stressed. Everything is driving me crazy and it just feels surreal. Like some weird cloudy dream.”

“It’s fine, Lance,” Keith said almost too quickly, “But next time you’re an ass, don’t count on me being winded to assure an easy escape.” Keith chirped teasingly.

Keith wanted to tell Lance he could sit down next to him, but would that be weird? ‘Of course, it would!’ Keith thought to himself. ‘Lance probably doesn’t even have anything else to say, so it would be awkward to invite him to sit when he has things to do.’ Keith just sat awkwardly on his bed hoping, praying that Lance would say something.

“Well uh, why don’t we go to the kitchen? Hunk was making something, and he might be done now.” Lance suggested, very obviously trying to relax his stance. Maybe Keith was making him uncomfortable?

Keith sighed softly and pushed himself up from the comfort of the mattress.

“Sure. Though after getting kicked in the stomach like that, I can’t say I’ve been hungry. Just in pain.” He muttered dryly. ‘It’s good that Lance was there or else–' Keith took a moment to arrange his thoughts. ‘Why was he there?’ As Keith and Lance walked down the long extent of halls, Keith turned to the blue paladin curiously.

“Wait, why were you in the training room?”

“Well you go there to think... and I thought maybe it would work for me. But you ended up being there too and I didn’t want to disrupt you, so I just went to one of the balconies.” It was a strange answer, but Keith wasn't one to judge.

‘Well, he could have gone somewhere else in the castle. He saw that I was training, so why bother staying?’ Keith decided not to bring this up to Lance because one way or another Keith would embarrass himself.

After a few doboshes, both paladins had made their way into the kitchen where the rest of the paladins sat. The room smelled like artificial Kiwi and mango.

“Hey lov-“ before Hunk could utter another syllable, he cut himself off.

“Hey, guys. I made some weird space goop smoothie if you’d like some. It actually isn’t half bad.”

“I’m down,” Lance said, swiping a smoothie from the counter and sipping it.

“Mm.. you’re right! These are pretty good!” Lance exclaimed, contentedly drinking his smoothie.

Keith inspected the smoothie’s pink, glistening surface.

“Looks good, but I’m not feeling too great at the moment,” Keith mentioned nonchalantly.

“Are you alright, Keith?” Shiro chimed in. “Fine. I just pushed myself too hard in training.” Keith quickly glanced over at Lance, who had drunken more of his smoothie than the others. Keith eyed its shimmering surface.

“What’s in it, Hunk? Did you spill glitter in the blender?” Hunk shrugged and sipped on his smoothie.

“Not sure, the fruit was a present from the Vajians. There are some leftovers over there if you’d like to inspect them.”

So inspect them he did.

Almost everyone had finished their smoothies and Lance was on his second cup when the Altean Computer Database could finally name the fruit. Keith couldn’t believe what he was reading.

“These are different types of Arooplim fruits.” Keith began, attempting to not stifle a laugh. “Their taste is supposed to be addicting- a terrible adaptation if you ask me, but it's not without side effects...”

“Ugh! Why are these so GOOD!” Lance exclaimed, completely ignoring Keith's findings and chugging his third cup.

“Woah. What?”

Keith glanced over at Lance to find him staring right back. He quickly looked back to the database page he had pulled up.

“The fruits come with many side effects...the most prominent being intense emotions. Like, very intense. The others include nausea, sensitivity to light, extreme thirst, and so on.” Keith stared at each Paladin's equally horrified face.

“Uh...on the bright side, you are each going to get only one symptom...I think.” Hunk looked nervous, like, extremely nervous.

“I need to go...” Hunk mentioned quickly and dizzily dragged himself to the door. Shiro turned to Hunk but immediately closed his eyes as he faced the ceiling lights.

“Where are you going?” Shiro inquired.

“I think I’ve gotten nausea. I’m not sure though, considering I always vomit.” Hunk turned back around and left the room. The sounds of him retching could faintly be heard from the kitchen.

“Holy hell! This entire team is shitfaced. What about the rest of you?”

Lance spoke up suddenly.

“Don’t just assume all of us are shitfaced Keith!” Lance sounded offended.

“Not all of us are so shut up!” He sounded accusing and frustrated.

“I hate when you do that! Always making stupid assumptions about what’s happening before you even see firsthand!”

Keith's expression changed dramatically in the first three seconds before realization. First, confusion. What the hell was Lance talking about? Then, hurt. Did Lance really think that about him? And third, the realization. Lance had been affected by the first symptom, and this fact made it hard to not stifle a laugh. He was surprised he was able to in the first place.

“Okay, so I think we know what Lance has. And he had three smoothies.” If Keith could barely hold back a laugh before, it was impossible now. The whole team was screwed, period.

“Shiro? Pidge?” Keith inquired.

“Sensitivity to light... definitely sensitivity to light.” Shiro’s eyes were shielded by his hands.  
“What did we ever do to that planet besides free them?” Shiro grumbled.

“Sorry, Shiro. You may have to stay in a dark room, or maybe we could find some Altean technology that limits the amount of light that hits your eyes.” Keith suggested, but Shiro just laughed.

“You could just say sunglasses, Keith.” He teased.

“Whatever. Pidge?”

“Well don’t mind me, I’ll just be drinking all the water available.” She answered, probably wandering off to find some. Lance still looked pissed though.

“And you’re laughing at me! Seriously Keith? Take your stupid mullet elsewhere because I am tired of your stupid shit!” Lance looked absolutely furious now. His eyebrows were drawn together and his eyes were narrowed.

Not good.

‘I should probably fix this before Lance goes on an emotional rampage,’ Keith thought to himself.

“Uh, Lance. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at the situation in general. So uh, sorry?”

Okay, weak apology, but it would have to do.

Lance's expression softened.

“Oh,” he muttered, now just looking confused.

“Ok.” After a few seconds of standing there, he turned around to sit in a chair. He muttered something ineligible to himself, pulling his legs up to his chest. Quiet sobs soon became audible.

Everyone in the room seemed to turn their attention to Lance as his face grew wet with tears. Shiro was temporarily blind though, and Pidge didn’t seem to care enough to try and understand what was wrong.

‘Please don’t tell me I have to step in..’ No other Paladin said anything for a few ticks. ‘Quiznak.’ Keith, again, turned his gaze to Lance, who was hopelessly crying. Even though Keith knew this wasn’t how Lance acted, he still felt a pang of guilt knowing that he was troubled. ‘Why have half of my thoughts been consumed by one person?’ Keith sighed. Someone had to fix this, even if that person was Keith, who was the worst at calming people.

“Lance. Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” Keith’s voice didn’t sound like his own. Soft and gentle? What is this?

“I’m sure Coran and Allura have medicine that can limit side effects. It’ll..it’ll be okay.” Keith never thought he’d see the day where he calmed a crying Lance. Shiro, through his hands, gave Keith a half suspicious, half gracious look.

Keith turned his attention back to the other male as Lance spoke again.

"No- I just- I don't know why I'm even crying?" Lance's voice wavered and he broke down into tears again.

“Uh...think happy thoughts?” Keith suggested. Just as he spoke, Allura walked into the mess of a kitchen.

Lance made some ineligible noises as Keith turned to look at Allura.

“Whoever just walked into the room, hopefully, you’re Allura or Coran and can help us?” Shiro took one of his hands and motioned toward the distressed paladins.

"Yes, Pidge has informed me of the... situation, and the best solution appears to be to put all of you in separate rooms." The sound of Hunk throwing up resurfaced. "And Hunk can stay in there." Pidge suddenly stood up.

“Keith and Lance should share a room because Keith didn't drink the smoothies and Lance had like three and is far too emotional. Keith can watch him."

Allura nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, and according to the castle database, the effects wear off in approximately seven days. So, that's how long each of you will be contained."

“Wait Wait Wait Wait...I have to watch Lance!?” Keith was horrified. “Locked in a room for a week with emotional Lance? Do you want us to kill each other?!” Keith shot Pidge a death glare.

Allura sighed, "Keith, Lance is not going to kill you. You are staying with him, and that's final. Now both of you, this way. Coran, please show Shiro and Pidge to their own rooms."

Coran nodded, and in the background, Lance begrudgingly got up from his chair and wiped his tears on his sleeve.

“Don’t you think that it would be bad to have one person stay in a room by themselves? Maybe we should all–“ Keith was cut off by the wave of Shiro’s hand.

“You’re right, and that is why Pidge and I will be bunking together.” Shiro gave Keith a sly smirk. “This is a good time to get over your differences. It’s just a week, Keith.”

‘Goddamn space fruit, goddamn Shiro, goddamn Pidge, goddamn Hunk(but goddamn him the least), goddamn Allura, and goddamn Lance,’ he grumbled internally.

“Whatever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaa idk?? This is my first ao3 fic and it actually is okay (i think) please let me know if you (for some reason) decide to make art so i can link it!
> 
> Also please comment if you see any grammar errors?
> 
> Thank you and Kudos are much appreciated! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> Karii OUT!
> 
> (Also i cant see anything past the first line so let me know if you cant either)


	2. Day One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure what happened and this is very short so I apologize in advance

Allura led them down a multitude of hallways and down several elevators until she reached a large door. It slid open, and inside was a full-blown kitchen and living room. Two other doors were visible, and could be assumed they led to the bathroom and bedroom.

“This is like an apartment!” Lance said, his tears gone, “Awesome!”

“You’ve had this in the castle the whole time,” Keith turned to Allura, “Why?”

“Sometimes we’d have royal guests. They’d stay in one of these with their families. Well, I’ll leave you guys to it. See you in a week.” She swiftly left the room, the door closing behind her. A soft click confirmed it had locked.

Keith sighed. “I’m going to go choose my bedroom.” Keith, as quickly as he could without seeming suspicious, dashed up the stairs. When Keith got there, he felt like he could have screamed. “Quiznak, NO.” Keith stared horrified at the one bedroom.

“What?” Lance called down from the main floor. “Is there something wrong?” Soon Lance joined Keith in the single bedroom.

“Oh,” he muttered, “well at least it’s like the biggest bed ever in existence. Can't we make a pillow wall or something? In the middle, so we can’t roll into each other?”

Keith felt his face flush. ‘Roll onto each other? Why is that the first thing he thinks about? No, he’s just being precautious. But why does the thought make my face flush?’ Keith sighed.

“Yeah...good idea. Let’s just hope there are spare clothes.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “I’m actually kind of glad Pidge got us stuck together because for some reason I feel a lot calmer now?” Lance still looked confused but at least he wasn’t crying hysterically.

“That’s because you have nothing to be upset about.” Keith shrugged. ‘He would feel the same with any other paladin. How could I have anything to do with this?’

“Alright, I’m going to make food goo now.” Keith wasn’t exactly hungry, but he needed something to do.

“Alright.” Lance flopped onto the bed and sighed as Keith left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t take long for Keith to make his food goo, and he was slightly hungry when he finished making it. By the time Keith had finished eating, the clock (or whatever Alteans called it) showed that Keith and Lance had been trapped in this room for only an hour.

“Just six more days and 23 hours more to go.” He muttered grumpily. You couldn't blame him for not wanting to be here.

“Do I smell food goo?” Lance said, now downstairs and sliding into a chair at the counter. Propping his face upon his hands, he smiled lazily at Keith.

“Uh, Yeah. I just finished eating but there are some leftovers. How could you be hungry after having that much smoothie?”

“Don’t judge me.” Lance murmured. He took the remainders and started eating. “Thanks, I guess.”

Ignoring Lance he instead scanned the room. Keith could see some bright colored boxes sitting on a shelf. Curious, he slowly made his way over to the living room where they sat. After inspecting them, the small amount of hope that Keith had lost was returned.

“Come over here, look at this.” Keith motioned for Lance to come. “Board games. The ultimate way to pass time.”

“Hold on.” Lance apparently had finished the rest of his food goo and went over to join Keith.

“Sweet. Why don’t we play this?” He held up a box that looked somewhat like Monopoly.

“It’s in English for some reason.” He stated, reading the back of the box. He placed it on the table.

“Monopoly? Really? I thought you were a battleship kind of guy.” Keith commented, but it didn’t really mean anything. “Try not to cry when you lose?” Keith said teasingly but caught his mistake too late. ‘If he starts to cry now I swear.’

Lance smirked instead, “Don’t worry, I’ll be too busy winning to cry.” Lance quickly set up the game, then chose his place marker- the hat. “Pick yours," he said, after leaning back on the couch.

Keith chose the small wheelbarrow marker. ‘Objective 1: win this game of monopoly. Objective 2: try not to make Lance scream while I’m at it. Objective 3: don’t die of boredom.’

“Ladies first.” Keith teases and hands Lance the red dice.

“I’ll just take that as a compliment,” Lance said as he rolled. He got a six and moved his piece accordingly. 'I can do better.’ Keith picked up both of the red dice and rolled.

“Seven.” His face was smug as he moved his piece.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About two hours later, the game of monopoly was finished. Surprisingly, Lance had beaten Keith by a long run.

“The joys of capitalism...” Keith muttered defeatedly.

“I win, so now you owe me a favor,” he said smugly, “Kiss me.”

Keith stared bewilderedly. 'What the actual hell did he just say? Did I hear him right?’ Keith’s pale skin flushed and was now crimson. The tips of his ears grew hot, and he was just a mess.

“I Uh- I don’t– I’m not really- Wait, what!?”

“Did I stutter?” Lance said, overly cocky again.

‘This must be the work of the devil because I feel like I’m in hell.’ Keith cringed. ‘Sounds like one of those horrible pickup lines Lance would use. Thinking of Lance....what the hell is this?’

“N-no, But– Wait. I never agreed to a favor!” There, an excuse.

“So?”

“So that means I owe you nothing!” ‘Why is Lance so insistent on kissing me..? And why am I not appalled at the idea?’ Keith gulped nervously.

“Well okay,” Lance said, “But you still do owe me for saving your ass so...” It was official, Keith was hallucinating.

Keith gulped.

“Lance, you’ve just roofied yourself with space fruit. Don’t you think that it may be the cause for...whatever is happening? Think logically, because I know you’d regret it when the effects wear off.” Keith tried to hide how immensely red his face had turned.

“Besides, who would want to...” Keith trailed off. ‘Kiss me. Who would want to kiss me?’

“I do,” Lance said, then promptly did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAA this was SO short but I wanted to end it here because it seemed appropriate
> 
> ANYWAY! Hope you enjoyed and Kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> (Let me know if this chapter only has like one sentence in the comments)
> 
> Karii OUT! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	3. Day 1 part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some fluff and also Keith being bad at feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so hecking tired and i have a huge summative project coming up tomorrow and i should be doing that but... nah
> 
> aNywaY! hope you enjoy the pain and suffering that went into this

At first, Keith froze. Lance’s warm lips crashed against Keith’s and all he could do was freeze like a scared fourteen-year-old. But when Lance didn’t pull back, Keith reciprocated the kiss. ‘What am I doing? Pull back!’ But as much as Keith’s mind was screaming at him, he didn’t.

Soon, enough ignoring of his thoughts lead them to cease altogether, and all Keith could think was Lance, Lance, Lance.

‘Wait, What am I doing?’ The real realization kicked in soon after, and Keith quickly pulled back from Lance.

“What the hell was that?”

“I-I Don’t know. But um... you kissed back? It was nice though. Wait, what?”

‘I want to dig a hole and die in it.’ Keith felt a mix of emotions himself; confusion, embarrassment, want, slight anger, and fear. ‘Wait, want? I'm Just going to ignore that.’

“Well, you kissed me first! I was just humoring you...” Keith was a terrible liar.

“And you– Wait, What?” Keith hadn’t fully registered what had been said until now. ‘It was...nice?’

“If you’re saying that to make me feel less embarrassed there’s no need– I’ll accept death with open arms.”

“No, I’m being serious. It was nice.” Lance frowned slightly but it quickly vanished.

“10/10 would do it again,” Lance joked half-heartedly.

Keith was at a loss for words, and he felt his throat tighten. ‘Ten out of ten would do it again..’ Keith echoed in his thoughts. ‘Wow, Keith, way to make his awkward. But seriously, would do it again? Did he actually say that?’ Keith let his thoughts go wild. ‘No– he didn’t mean it. It’s the fruit. That goddamn fruit...’

“Lance, y-you don’t actually mean that.” Keith’s throat felt dry. “It’s the fruit. A-and you need to stop saying things like that because I know that when you’re not drugged you’ll regret it.”

‘He doesn’t care for me like that. No one does.’

“Oh my god Keith. I’m not /high/, you even said it yourself! The stupid plant only amplifies emotions! PREEXISTING emotions! I don’t know what you don’t get! I just freaking KISSED you! Would I have done that if I didn’t like you in some way shape or form?!” Lance took a deep breath and was silent for a few seconds.

“Stop doubting me.” He said finally.

‘Shit. I messed up.’ Keith gulped nervously. “I uh...need to use the bathroom.” He cringed at the excuse.

Keith practically dashed into the bathroom. “I fucked up,” Keith whispered softly as he stared back at himself in the mirror. ‘Me? Lance actually likes me?’ Keith scoffed at the idea. But what Lance had said did make sense...

”It’s been three hours and I already can’t take this.”

‘If Lance’s emotions were intensified then he must feel something, but what if they aren’t as strong as he is portraying them? Of course, they aren’t, that's where the fruit comes in. Ugh, this is so confusing!’

Keith spent a few doboshes contemplating the situation at hand and decided that Lance did feel something, but nothing strong. After all, he did drink three smoothies. ‘I can’t hide in here any longer...’

Keith sighed and exited the small bathroom. There, on the couch, Lance was humming a pleasant tune. “What are you humming?”

“Oh!” Lance's tan skin flushed a slightly darker shade, “It’s nothing. Just something I used to sing to my younger siblings to calm them. It’s nothing special. My mother taught It to me.”

Keith plopped next to Lance on the “couch” (it was more like a long chair). “Could you...sing it now?” ‘Oh no. What did I just say? what did I just say?!’

Lance looked away.

“I-I guess.” Softly he began to sing, the words soft and flowing like liquid. “I promise, I’ll protect you day by day, no harm will ever go your way. But if I ever have to go, Please know I love you so. Oh darling, don’t cry. I’ll sing you the skies, like lullabies.” The short song ended and Lance was quiet again.

Keith didn’t know what to say. “That was...pretty.” Keith decided. “Your mother taught you that?”

“Y-Yeah. She would love to meet you guys. She’d force us all to clean the entire house before though.” He laughed fondly.

Keith laughed along. ‘Wow... he must really care for his mother.’

“What’s she like?”

“Well, she’s really strict but also a softie. She loves those sappy romance novels and Spanish dramas. When she gets mad she yells in Spanish. She and hunk got along great because they both love cooking. She makes literally the BEST bacon ever and her pastries are to DIE for. She loves music and always had this way with dancing.” Lance smiled.

“She sounds great.” Keith thought about the idea of his mother, but no real memories came to mind. “Big family?” Keith didn’t know if he was being in intrusive. At the same time, he was also scared that he would trigger one of Lance’s intense emotional episodes. With him, it was like walking on a floor covered in glass. You had to be careful where you’d step or else something will go wrong.

“Yeah... it was hectic all the time.” Lance sighed. “Come to think about It, I actually don’t know much about your likes and interests. So, care to enlighten me?”

“Uh...I like to train. I guess.” ‘Wow, he just gets all open with you and that’s all you can say?’ Keith wanted to facepalm himself.

Lance rolled his eyes. “There’s more to you than just that, come on.”

Keith sighed. “I Uh...I’ve always been obsessed with space. Well, you probably already knew that considering I was enrolled into the Garrison. And I guess I always loved space because the stars were a comforting thing for me. Well, that and because I believed aliens were real, which no one believed. And look, I was right! Now I just have to prove that Mothman is real.” Keith looked deadly serious.

Lance snorted, “Wait, Mothman? I can’t believe you’re a cryptid. Wow.”

“Okay, Mothman is totally real. There is evidence!” Keith felt a weird emotion bubble in his stomach. It made his skin feel tingly every time he glanced at Lance. “Pidge and I have found video upon video! And yes, we are Cryptkids.” Keith felt a little ashamed. ‘How would Lance respond to that? Wait, why do I care?’ As much as Keith didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but fret over how the blue paladin viewed him.

“Alright, I’m not going to further question you on Mothman,” Lance said jokingly, “But I am going to ask about other things. Like your other hobbies?”

“Uh...training. If I’m not training I’m just chilling in my room.” Not a complete lie. ‘I can’t let him know about my knife. He’ll just question where I got it and ask about my family.’

Lance frowned. He could tell there was something Keith wasn’t telling him, but Keith didn’t like being pressured from what Lance could see. “Alright then.” The previous chatter quickly turned into an awkward silence

‘Lance looks upset, but a normal amount of upset. Does this mean..?’ Keith suddenly felt a small amount of hope overcome him. “Lance, I’ve noticed that you’ve been reacting to everything I say like a normal person. Do you think this means the smoothie’s effects wore off?”

“Maybe it just comes in parts or something? I mean, it’s supposed to last seven days isn’t it?” Lance sighed. “Those smoothies were so good though. Why did they have to cause bad things?” At this point, Lance just felt beyond tired, and he curled into a ball on the couch.

“Uh...Lance. Are you okay?” Having Lance go from being a ball of energy to that tired in just seconds was unsettling, to say the least.

Lance yawned in reply. “Just tired. My head has been really busy trying to catch up with what’s happening. And I got a major headache.” He hugged his knees. “So I think I’ll just sleep for now.”

Keith nodded in understanding. “Sleep well, Lance.” Keith yawned at the thought of sleep. ‘Maybe Lance was onto something.’ Keith lay his head back on the ‘couch’ and dozed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh
> 
> i feel so dead inside but I hope you enjoyed... that... and remember Kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> (Please let me know about any formatting errors or if nothing shows in the chapter)
> 
> Karii OUT! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	4. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes a questionable decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i didn't fail that summative (yay?)
> 
> anyway, enjoy this chapter

Keith began to stir when he felt hot breath on his face. Alarmed, his eyes fluttered open. But to Keith’s surprise, it was Lance. About two inches from his face.

“Uh...what are you doing?”

Lance jumped back.

"I don't know." He slowly moved to the other side of the table separating two couches.

"It's so weird that I am now doing things that make no sense. Like, I wasn't consciously making the decision to go over by you. It just... Happened?"

Keith stared confused, and the tips of his ears began to flush pink.

“Like sleepwalking?”

"I guess," he said, frowning, "but I'm completely conscious." Lance looked at Keith for a moment, probably taking note of his obvious blush.

"Oh, so you like me back? Or are you just weirded out?" Lance asked, sounding sincere.

Keith’s eyes widened, and he truly became petrified.

“What? No! It’s just weird having someone watch you in your sleep!” Keith attempted to defend himself.

“Wait... like you back’?” Keith parroted.

"Well... Uh yeah? I mean... We haven't really cleared the air here yet. So can you maybe figure out whatever's going on with you and tell me, please?"

Keith scoffed.

“Going on with me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Keith challenged, “You accuse me of being abnormal yet you watched me as I slept! Well, did you enjoy the show, Lance?” He asked sarcastically. ‘How can he so easily push my buttons?’

"That was for TWO SECONDS!" Lance stood up.

"Just give me a moment," he said through gritted teeth. Lance strode over to another nearby area of the room and seemed to try and calm himself down.

Even though Keith knew that this fight was pointless, that didn’t cease the boiling of his blood. But Lance stepping out of the room gave way for his thoughts to emerge. ‘Lance never answered my question. What did he mean when he said whatever is wrong with me? He’s the drugged one!’ Keith’s thoughts only fueled the fire.

"I'm good now," Lance said, turning the corner and sitting back on the couch.

Keith, as a natural hothead, still felt anger clouding his mind. However, this time, it wasn’t directed towards Lance. Still, that didn’t mean he would drop the question buzzing in the back of his mind though.

“Lance, what did you mean when you said something was going on with me? Because last time I checked, you were the one who drank three drugged space smoothies.”

"Keith please just drop it," Lance said with an exasperated look on his face, "I don't want to have to fight with you like this." He sighed.

“Well if you were to tell me now, then we wouldn’t have to fight.” Keith protested, but he felt his patience growing thin. ‘Is it that hard?’

"I don't know okay!? I don't even know half of what I'm saying and it's so confusing!" Lance yelled, getting defensive. His eyes grew glossy and tears began to form at the corners of his eyes. "I don't even know what's happening?"

Keith felt a pang of guilt in his gut. ‘This week is going to be harder than I thought.’ Keith sat in an awkward silence for a moment before standing up and speaking again.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was just angry and curious, and I’m sorry for pushing you.”

“Thank you,” Lance said, wiping the tears from his eyes. After his face was dry, he sighed loudly.

“This really sucks,” he noted for the thousandth time. Lance flopped back onto the couch and hugged his knees to his chest.

Keith plopped down onto the couch next to Lance. As he studied his face, Keith spotted a stray tear trail down Lance’s cheek, and his hand sprung into action. Keith gently wiped the tear off of Lance’s soft skin.

After realizing what he had done, Keith quickly sat on the other side of the couch. A flush began to crawl up his neck. ‘Idiot! What did you do that for?’ But even his thoughts couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed being near Lance.

“Keith?” Lance flushed. “W-what was that?”

Keith felt his body freeze.

“What was what?” He tried to play it off casually.

“O-oh, that. Just h-helping you out.” ‘Smooth. Nailed it.’ He thought sarcastically to himself.

"Wow, so great," Lance snorted, rolling his eyes, "You are so bad at whatever you're trying to do."

‘I don’t even know what I’m trying to do.’ Keith sighed.

"Whatever- up for another board game? Preferably not Monopoly, again,” he asked quickly.

“No... um. Can we just talk?” Lance asked, frowning.

“And we seriously need to figure things out. I don’t even know what’s happening anymore?”

Keith’s face grew concerned.

“Talk? Okay...what about?”

"How about addressing the fact that I kissed you?!" Lance sighed.

Then it sunk in. Keith hadn't so much as acknowledged it. Then again, that was Keith though. Always guarded against everyone and everything.

“What’s there to talk about? You didn’t have control over what you were doing, so let’s just forget about it.” Keith’s face was unreadable. ‘I don’t want to forget about it.’

"Oh my god Keith! You don't get it! I did that- impulsively- but I still kissed you and it may not have meant anything to you, but it did to me!" Lance squeezed his eyes shut. He was obviously trying to keep from breaking down again.

“I-“ Keith coughed to try and rid himself of the lump in his throat. “No- no, no, no, no, no. Lance. I- it-“

Keith struggled to find his words. ‘The one thing I really can’t do; speak.’

“Lance. Lance, look at me.” When Lance didn’t move, Keith lightly gripped his jaw and turned Lance’s face towards his. Keith made sure to look him straight in his beautiful blue eyes when he spoke.

“Lance, you may think that the kiss meant nothing to me, but you are so- so far from the truth. Because the truth is? I can’t stop thinking about the kiss. I can’t stop thinking about the way you looked at me, with your dumb, beautiful smile, or how your lips felt pressed against mine. And I can’t stop thinking about how much I would want to do it more. But I’m holding back because I’m afraid, okay? I’m scared of getting close to someone– to you. Because I know when this smoothie’s effects wear off everything will go back to normal, and I’ll be stuck with these dumb feelings while you flirt with every alien girl we meet,” Keith could hear his voice pitifully crack, “So don’t you dare tell me that I think that the kiss means nothing to me.”

Lance's eyes widened.

"Keith I'm not- shit. Even the prettiest alien has nothing on you. I flirted with them to stop myself from thinking about your shy smiles, your laugh. And do you even know how beautiful your eyes are? Somehow I maybe thought I could make you jealous or something. I think I did, it just didn't go as planned." Lance finally let his tears fall, and through them, he said, "I never meant for you to feel like that. I-I'm sorry."

Keith didn’t say anything more. Instead, he inched closer to Lance on the couch-bench. Instinctually, he wrapped one of his arms around Lance’s thin frame. Keith’s head rested gently against his shoulder, and a reassuring hand drew circles on the small of Lance’s back.

He could feel his heart beating out of his chest and a small blush yet again creeping up his neck, but he didn’t care. All Keith could think about was Lance. How his smile could brighten anyone’s day, and how his soft, toned skin felt as he grabbed his hand with the arm strung around his shoulder. ‘If this isn’t perfection, I don’t know what is.’

“Lance, I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I’m sorry for how I’ve underestimated you constantly, but the truth is? I admire you. You’re so skilled in ways you don’t even realize, and I made you feel otherwise...so...I’m sorry.” Keith exhaled as he finished his sentence and pressed closer into Lance’s shoulder.

“I’m flattered,” Lance said, smiling again. His tears had stopped falling and his expression had softened. He looked down at their entwined fingers and grinned.

“This is nice.”

“Y-Yeah.” Keith stammered. ‘After you told him all of that you’re still a nervous wreck? Get a hold of yourself, Keith!’

“It is.” Keith wiped the final tear, that had rolled down Lance’s cheek from his face.

\------------------------

And so the remainder of the afternoon was spent on board games, just like the day before. Eventually, the two of them grew thirsty, and Lance wandered into the kitchen looking for water. Keith was waiting on the couch when he heard Lance's exclamation.

“Holy shit!” Lance yelled, “Keith! I found space booze!”

Keith emerged from the common room.

“Space booze? Are you serious Lance? No offense, but you’re already pretty fucked up,” Keith paused after realizing his mistakes, “Don’t take offense to that, please. We both know that the smoothies have done a number on you.” Keith walked over and inspected the Altean alcohol.

“You aren’t actually thinking about drinking this, are you?”

“Of course I am, Keith,” Lance said, promptly took a bottle and poured himself a glass, “It’s not like I haven’t had alcohol before. You should try some.” Lance sipped from the cup.

”Tastes kinda like... lemons??” He sipped some more.

”Whatever it is, it's really good. For alcohol anyway.” He added, poured another glass and sliding it across the counter, ”Here.”

Keith hesitantly took a sip from his own cup. He was right, it did taste like lemons.

"Huh, it is good..."

Lance downed another glass, and Keith's own mind was starting to feel hazy. They had gotten through half of the first bottle when they really started to feel the side effects. Lance giggled to himself deliriously. His eyes trailed to Keith and he smiled lazily at him.

”See?? It's Good.”

“Okay, okay. You win.” Keith shrugged before downing another glass. Keith felt a sudden wave of boldness crash over him. ‘Must be the alcohol.’

“Did I ever tell you that you’re really pretty?”

‘That’s...random. True, but random.’ Keith thought to himself, but his thoughts began to grow foggy.

”Kind of...?” Lance replied, ”And if I'm pretty, then you're beautiful.” He stared at Keith dreamily before speaking again, ”Did I ever tell you that the color of your eyes is my favorite color now?”

Keith felt his face flush, but he could also feel his consciousness slowly slipping away. ‘Already? I’ve barely drunk anything!’

“Beautiful?” Keith parroted whilst resting a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “If I’m beautiful, then you’re a god amongst men. And I happen to think your eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue I have ever seen.” Keith smirked. He was turning this into a competition now, wasn’t he? ‘Holy shit did I just say that? Oh hell.’

”Well, I think your mullet isn't stupid, even though I make fun of it a lot,” Lance slurred, ”It's beautiful, just like the rest of you. Also, I really want to kiss you right now? Can I do that please?”

“Fuck yes.” Keith breathed, and before Lance could react Keith placed a firm hand around his neck and pulled him in.

The kiss was sloppy and uncoordinated, and Keith could feel himself slowly losing himself. But that didn’t matter, because right now he was too enthralled with Lance. Especially the way the curves of his mouth curled as they took a breath. ‘Quiznak, that’s weird, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s totally weird.’

”That was really nice,” Lance said smiling.

Keith’s mind has eased into a state of ‘fuck common sense’ and ‘Lance’, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know what he was doing, but he was acting on the first thought he had, no matter how... unconventional they may be.

So, he crashed their lips together again, and at this point, he’d given in to the haze and cloudiness of alcohol. He entwined his and Lance’s hands subconsciously. Keith’s head pounded, but he couldn’t get enough of the adrenaline Lance somehow gave him.

Between the sessions of endless kissing, which he wasn’t complaining about, Keith had officially lost all of his common sense and succumbed to the alcohol. Keith pulled back from Lance breathlessly. One of his hands cupped Lance’s face while the other rested on the small of Lance’s back.

“I could get used to this.” Keith slurred. Oh man, the alcohol was really getting to him. Keith glared mischievously into Lance’s eyes.

“I want to get used to your lips pressed against mine. And I don’t just want that— I want you.” The hand that cupped Lance’s face now ran his thumb over Lance’s swollen lips.

Lance looked at Keith for a moment with clouded eyes and an easy smile.

“Te Amo, Keith.” He peppered Keith’s face with light kisses. Keith’s heart was racing and he felt warm inside. It was a while before Lance said, “I think I love you.”

Keith smirked, not really registering what Lance had said.

“If you love me, then shut up and kiss me.” Keith brought their lips together, and time seemed to fade away. How long had they been standing there? Minutes? Hours? Didn’t matter. In between kisses they would down more drinks, and more, and more.

Soon, Keith had gotten to the point where he couldn’t stop giggling. Everything was now somehow funny to him. The walls? Hilarious. The floor? Funny. The alcohol? Hysterical. He laughed again and kissed Lance some more. When he glanced at the clock a moment later, it was nearly 12 am earth time.

"Lance... we need to sleep," Keith murmured, his words barely comprehend-able.

“Well it is late, so we can sleep.” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled him up the stairs. Once inside the bedroom, Keith watched as Lance flung himself onto the bed.

“Now you stay on this side of the pillow wall, and I’ll stay on this side,” he said, quickly constructing a line of pillows. He rolled onto the right side of the bed.

“My side,” he pointed at the left, ”Your side.”

Disappointment set across Keith’s face.

“Yeah, my side...your side.” Keith flopped down onto the soft sheets. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep— the second his head hit the pillow, to be exact. He could feel a headache blossom in his temple as he closed his eyes, and the world fell away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i hope you enjoyed this chapter and kudos are appreciated :D
> 
> (i didnt post last week because of stuff so expect an update soon)
> 
> Karii OUT! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	5. Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has regrets and he decides to drown them in truth or dare with Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so long wow
> 
> w o w
> 
> aNYwAy we have standardized tests coming up and i want to scream
> 
> enjoy my 1 AM writing

Keith felt cold. When he woke up, he felt colder than he ever had before. Not his body temperature, but alone. Like this bed was a puzzle and something was missing. But that feeling was soon overpowered by the throbbing in his head.

“Holy shit.” He groaned. Keith felt like crap– no, that was an understatement. He felt like he’d just fallen off a cliff after being thrown into a highway. ‘I need to find space Advil or something...and Lance. He probably has said space Advil.’ It took Keith every ounce of strength to push himself up and head to the stairs. It was made especially difficult by the mound of pillows in the way.

‘I feel like death,’ He thought to himself as he stumbled into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey Lance," Keith greeted him groggily.

”Hey,” Lance responded. He had started to make food, something that looked similar to eggs.

“How ya feeling?” Lance asked casually. He served the “eggs” on a plate and pushed it across the counter towards Keith.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus.” Keith deadpanned. “No, scratch that, five buses.” Keith now stood over by Lance at the counter.

“You can cook?” Keith looked rather surprised, “Thought that was Hunks job.” He tried to tease but realized his mistakes. ‘Never antagonize the food-maker, or else you won’t get food.’ He reminded himself.

“Dude its just eggs... I think anyway,” Lance responded, rolling his eyes. “I’m not Hunk, and uh..do you need water or something?” He prepared himself to grab a cup from the cabinet.

“Sure, I guess. Does it help with hangovers? I swear I’ll take anything that helps with hangovers.” Keith seemed a little desperate at this point, but that wasn’t his fault. He had never felt so horrible in his entire life.

“Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever let me drink again...” his mumbled into his hands.

“Here, you drink this while I find something that looks like pain meds.” Lance walked out of the kitchen and headed to the bathroom.

He emerged triumphant a few minutes later with a small pill bottle that looked to have the same ingredients as ibuprofen.

“Take one, cause I don’t know how strong these are,” he said, returning to the kitchen.

Keith quickly swallowed the pill, hoping and praying that it would end the eternal suffering of a hangover. ‘Just don’t get your hopes too high...distract yourself.’ And Keith did just that. He scanned the kitchen and quickly found something that caught his interest.

“Damn. Did we drink one and a half of the bottles? I don’t remember doing that.” Keith’s brows furrowed as he pondered.

“Actually, I don’t remember anything,” He started, “What happened? Did I jump off a cliff? Because that’s what I feel like happened.” Keith tried to joke, but the throbbing in his temple stripped away all of the excitement in his voice and all of his happiness in general.

“Oh,” Lance tensed,“We got super drunk, and then... went to sleep. It wasn’t really... eventful.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“So I got that drunk to sit around on the couch? That drunk!? You mean I’m suffering like this because I wanted to sit drunk in the living room. I knew I was an idiot, but drunk Keith took it to a whole new level.” Keith could feel the pounding of his head begin to lighten. ‘It’s about time.’

“Oh, and sorry you had to sleep on the couch. You can take the bed tonight though.”

“Well um... I didn’t sleep on the couch. I slept in the bed. With you. Oops?” Lance tensed again as if waiting for Keith to yell at him.

Keith’s eyes widened. “I-in the bed?” He gawked. But after taking a few seconds to compose himself, Keith took a deep breath and began to talk, “Lance,” Keith’s voice was surprised, and he seemed tense. But also...afraid?

“What. The. Hell. Happened last night?”

“Kissing, lots of kissing,” he said wincing at Keith’s expression.

“And you’re a flirty drunk for sure. Just a little heads up. Also, you’re a blackout drunk apparently.” Lance trailed off.

Keith didn’t know what he felt. But he was sure he could feel embarrassment buried somewhere in his mix of emotions.

“That’s it? Nothing else besides that?” ‘Just treat it like it wasn’t a big deal, though you're screaming on the inside and everything will be okay.’ Keith had to know if he made Lance uncomfortable– or worse, hurt him.

“Y-Yeah that was it,” Lance answered. “And it was mutual- in case you’re wondering. I hope anyway.” Lance looked unsure.

“Please say it’s mutual?”

“Y-Yeah,” Keith stammered. The room grew so tense that Keith felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“I’m going to go Uh- chill. I’ll be in our bedroom if you need me.” Keith’s eyes widened at his own words. ‘Really? “Our bedroom?”'Keith felt another wave of embarrassment wash over him. Without another word, Keith made a break for the stairs. ‘I am so screwed.’

Lance snickered.

“Our bed,” he parroted. He trailed Keith up the stairs.

“Why do you still refuse to acknowledge the kissing?” Lance asked, “If anything, that hurts.”

Keith stopped dead in his tracks and bristled. A pang of guilt shot through his gut when he turned to face Lance, who was now right behind him on the stairs.

“Lance, I understand that you’re hurting right now, but did you ever think about the fact that I could be just as fucked as you? I care for you, and you know that. But I-I’m not comfortable with that fact yet,” Keith felt his throat begin to tighten as he spoke, “It’s just– I’ve had these feelings for some time, but no matter how long they’ve been there, they’re still foreign to me. I’ve never felt like this before towards anybody until you popped into my life, and they scare me. It’s something I can’t control, it’s something I’m not used to, and it feels like I’m playing with fire. One minute, everything will be fine. The next, things could go so, so horribly wrong.” Keith bit the inside of his cheeks to distract himself from the tears that were close to pricking his eyes.

“Since we’ve been locked in this damn room, my life has been a mess! And I thought I had everything figured out after yesterday, then I got blackout drunk. So much happened, and I can’t even remember it. Like I said, this is like playing with fire.”

"Well... I could help you remember,” Lance said softly, “If you’re okay with that, I mean,” he added quickly, “This time though, you’re going to remember.” He took a hesitant step towards Keith.

Was he okay with it? He didn’t know. Sure, he wanted to be okay with it, but he didn’t know if he was there yet.

“Not yet..” Keith started, “I just– I need to have time to think. And time to get over this hangover...” Keith added, “Buuuut~ I wouldn’t mind if you joined me upstairs.” Just because he was unsure about, well– life, that didn’t mean he could talk to Lance.

A look of disappointment flashed across Lance's face. It was gone in an instant, soo replaced by his easy smile.

“Alright,” Lance responded, heading the rest of the way up the stairs.

‘Just...don't feel guilty.’ He tried to tell himself. ‘Everyone needs their personal space once in a while. Some more the others...’ Keith climbed up the stairs after Lance.

“Can we not do anything that involves much moving or thinking? I’m trying not to projectile vomit on the floor, and this headache is killing me. Sorry to be a buzzkill.”

”Yeah sure. That headache must really be really bad, huh?” He responded, entering the room. Lance sat on the bed and leaned back on his palms.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Keith groaned. “Wait– I never actually asked if you were okay. You got drunk too, so how are you doing?” Keith asked as he slowly sat himself down on the soft sheets. He ran a hand through his jet black hair as he adjusted himself.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he responded. “It’s not like I haven’t been that drunk before.” Keith assumed he must've given him a weird look because he clarified.

“It was me and my friend and he’d gotten his hands on some really strong alcohol. Just the two of us, playing the weirdest game of truth or dare ever.”

Keith looked rather confused.

“Uh...truth or dare?”

“Have you never played?” Lance asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Uh...no. What is it?” Keith asked half embarrassed, half curious.

“Well, you pick truth or dare. Truth, you answer a question and you can’t lie. Dare, you complete a challenge or task,” Lance shrugged as he spoke, “That’s really all there is to it.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Keith decided, then sat upright on his knees, “Truth or dare?”

"Dare."

A mischievous glint sparked in Keith’s indigo eyes as he smirked at Lance.

“For the next three rounds, you have to talk in a funny accent,” Keith decided.

Lance seemed to think for a moment, “I have the perfect one,” he said, imitating Coran's accent.

“Truth or dare?” He asked, laughing at how he sounded.

Keith laughed along with him. ‘Wow, I hate to admit it, but he actually sounded good.’ Though, Keith tried to hide how impressed he was with Lance. ‘I bet I could do better.’ He thought to himself.

“Dare.”

“Hmmm...” Lance smirked, “I dare you to lick the floor.”

Keith scoffed.

“That’s it? And I thought I was going easy on you.” Keith shrugged and pushed himself up from the bed. The movement only amplified his nausea and headache, but that was fine, he wouldn’t be there long anyway. On his hands and knees, Keith eyed the floor’s clear white surface. ‘This is going to be fun.’ Keith made sure to never break eye contact with Lance as he shamefully licked the floor. ‘Does it look like I mind?’ His look seemed to say. It didn’t take long, and soon enough Keith was sitting back on the bed with a throbbing head and churning stomach.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be,” Keith started, “Guess you’ll have to try harder next time. Anyway, it’s my turn. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Lance responded. He figured he should mix it up a little so it didn’t get too boring for either of them.

‘Hm, truth. This is my chance to get to know Lance. Or embarrass him. Maybe both?’ Keith thought for a moment.

“What’s your most disgusting habit?”

“Um.... literally everyone does this but the grossest thing I can think of is biting my nails.” Lance shrugged.

“Pff. Boring,” Keith scoffed, “I mean– I do the same, but that's a lame answer.” Keith rolled his eyes, but a smile began to form on his lips. “Whatever, it’s your turn. Hit me.”

“Truth or dare?”

“Ill be fair. Truth.” Keith’s left hand rested over his throbbing temple. ‘Quiznak, it’s been hours and I still feel like absolute shit. Remind me to never drink alcohol ever again.’

“Weirdest or secret talent?” Lance asked without missing a beat.

“I don’t really know if this counts as a secret talent, but...I like to draw,” Keith hastily exhaled. ‘Please don’t judge please don’t judge please don’t judge please don’t judge—‘

“That’s really cool actually,” Lance replied, “I can’t draw whatsoever.” Lance smiled at Keith.

“Your turn to ask.”

‘Wait, did I just hear him right? He thinks it’s cool?’ Keith felt a warm feeling enter his chest.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Lance responded, seeming a little distracted.

Keith smirked as he spoke, “I dare you to dance without any music for one minute.”

Lance shrugged.

“Fine with me,” he said, standing. Lance Hummed under his breath and began to move. He started with swaying to the invisible rhythm, then added arm and other motions. It looked beautiful and, to be honest, hypnotizing.

That was when Lance dropped his arms to his sides and flopped on the bed.

“Done.”

‘Damn. Those hips don’t lie.’ Keith mentally facepalmed himself. ‘Quoting Shakira? This is a new low.’

“Nicely done, surprisingly. I expected you to be a swaying mess. Who taught you to dance?”

“My mom, mostly. Our family was big on music,” Lance cleared his throat, “Anyway, Truth or dare?”

“I’m in too much agony to stand, so truth,” He said simply.

“What was your first impression of me?” Lance asked.

“First impression?” Keith thought for a moment, “I’m going to be brutally honest, so prepare yourself.”

“Yeah, I figured. You’re not someone who sugarcoats things,” Lance agreed, laughing quietly.

“I'm going to take that as a compliment,” Keith responded, “Anyway, the first time I remember meeting you was when we both rescued Shiro. At the time, you seemed nosy,” ‘Caring.’ “Idiotic,” ‘pretty.’ “and arrogant,” ‘ and hilarious.’ It wasn't technically a lie, he just didn’t tell the full truth.

“But now I know there’s so much more to you than that.” Keith made sure to add, because he really, really did believe so. ‘I bet I sound like such a sap.’

“Well, you’re still idiotic,” He smirked.

“Hey!” Lance laughed, lightly pushing Keith, “I guess that isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” He smiled.

“To spare you the trouble of asking, I pick dare,” Lance added.  
“I dare you to....curse like a sailor for the next twenty seconds,” Keith could've come up with something better, but this was more of a ‘do something on the whim’ kind of game.

Lance sighed. “Alrighty then.” He spewed the first swear words he could think of while ticking off the seconds. At 20, he yelled, “shit,” louder than he probably should’ve.

“I’d didn’t think there were that many in existence. I was sure you’d fail.” Keith sighed. ‘This is my time to one-up Lance.’

“Believe me, there’s more. Truth or dare?” Lance asked once again.  
"Now it's my turn to one-up you.” He smirked and began to shift his weight to the edge of the bed in case he had to stand. ‘I swear one of these rounds I am going to vomit everywhere. Hopefully not on the bed...’

“I dare you to let-“ Lance broke into laughter, “Let me paint your nails. Don’t worry, I’m good at it.” After finishing his sentence, he broke into more laughter.

Keith looked horrified.

“I swear if you paint my nails pink I will end you,” But he, also, couldn’t finish his sentence without breaking into laughter. God, he loved Lance’s laugh. Keith would let him paint his nails every day if it meant Lance would laugh like that.

“I won’t. Let's do this in the bathroom though. It’ll be easier to clean.” Lance led him down the stairs and to said bathroom.

“There’s gotta be something in here,” he mumbled, rummaging under the sink. After a few moments, he emerged triumphant with a small bottle of red something.

“Let’s hope this is nail polish.”

“If I lose my fingers to space nail polish I’ll never let you hear the end of it,” Keith warned him, but there was no anger in his voice.

“Yeah, Yeah...” Lance told him, rolling his eyes. He began to apply the layers to Keith’s nails. Instantly, the colors began to shimmer.  
Keith quickly pulled his hand back. “Uh- Lance? Is this supposed to happen?” Considering he’s never worn nail polish before, he had the right to be confused. The color began to brighten on Keith’s nails as he tried to scratch it off, but his efforts were in vain. The crimson red faded to an earthy brown, then to forest green. “Lance?” Keith asked meekly.  
“I think... I think it’s mood nail polish! It changes colors according to your mood! Oh, this is so cool!” Lance smiled at the color shifting nails before continuing to paint them.

The fear began to leave Keith’s face.

“So...what does green mean?” He asked inquisitively.

“Probably envy... or... nausea?” Lance looked up, concerned, “Are you okay? Is the hangover that bad?”

“You have no idea,” Keith groaned. He watched as Lance began to worry.

“But I’m okay,” He made sure to assure him, “The medicine helped, slightly.”

“Why don’t we just do truth or truth while I finish your nails?” Lance asked, focusing back on laying the color on Keith’s nails.

“Fine by me,” Keith shrugged, making sure not to move his hands too much.

“So...What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?”

“Um... I don’t even remember, but apparently, I was really, really, drunk and I hit on literally everything there... including several inanimate objects,” Lance cleared his throat, “What’s your least favorite thing?”

“I think that’s a bit too broad, no?” Keith raised an eyebrow. The word ‘thing’ is in fact, very broad.

“Well, like your least favorite object or animal,” Lance replied, “Something like that.”

“Fine. I hate...Rubix cubes,” Keith muttered shamefully, “I can never solve them.”

Lance snorted, “Rubix cubes? You hate those?” He laughed, “I can’t believe the mighty Keith loses to Rubix cubes.”

“Yeah well, I bet you haven’t beat a Rubix cube, have you?” Keith inquired.

“No, but that doesn’t mean I hate them,” Lance laughed again, “Your turn to ask me a question.”

“What do you miss most about earth?” ‘Oh no. Did I just ask that? Shit. I hope it doesn’t make him upset.’

“My family,” he replied without missing a beat. “You probably could’ve assumed that though.” Keith could see Lance's eyebrows furrow together for a moment. Lance said nothing though and instead asked Keith a question.

“If you had to marry anyone on the team for a day who would it be and why?”

‘Way to go, Keith, being insensitive again.’ He mentally scolded himself.

“Totally Shiro.” ‘You dirty liar, Keith' “That way I can go one day without his disappointed dad looks.” He jokes as Lance delicately painted his pinkie nail.

“If you could go back and visit one planet that we’ve been to, which one would it be?”

“Probably Olkarion. It’s one of the planets that hasn’t been as changed by the Galra. Plus, it’s really cool there,” Lance answered, finishing the pinky and going back to Keith’s other hand to layer more nail polish on.

“Olkarion was pretty cool,” Keith agreed, “They seem to know how to take care of themselves,” He added, “Alright, your turn to ask me a question.”

“Did you ever date anyone?” Lance asked, turning Keith’s hand to get a different angle.

“No,” Keith answered quickly, “I always focused on my studies. I had to make it into the Garrison, and after Shiro left...” Keith trailed off, “So, yeah, I never dated anyone. Kinda makes me a loser, but whatever. What about you? And no- it doesn’t count as my question!”

Lance sighed, “There’s a long list of people I’ve dated.” His eyes became unfocused for a moment before concentrated back on the shimmering nail polish.

“So, yes I’ve dated before.”

Keith felt...jealous? He didn’t even know why. But the image of some guy or girl kissing Lance made his blood boil.

“So,” He was more than ready to change the topic, “What was your first opinion on the whole Voltron thing?”

“Uh, it was pretty crazy, to be honest. A little surreal,” Lance answered easily, “It still feels like a dream.” He moved to Keith’s right hand and continued applying the second layer.

“Do you wish it was?”

“Not at all, I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Lance laughed, “It’s been an adventure, really.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Voltron couldn’t exist without you.” ‘I couldn’t exist without you,’ He wanted to say but held his tongue.

Lance smiled, then asked his own question, “What do you fear most?” He was just about done painting Keith’s nails, but he took his time finishing the last few.

Keith gulped nervously.

“Being alone.” His expression changed drastically.

“I-I know I’ve always been alone, but I hated it. After being with this team so long, I couldn’t really imagine being alone again. As cheesy as this sounds, you guys are like my second family. And I’m scared that one day it could all be gone,” His voice carried a sense of sadness and worry.

"Why didn't you try to make friends at the Garrison then?" Lance frowned, "I just don't get it."

“I had Shiro,” He reasoned, “And, as cheesy as this sounds, no one really understood me. I know I sound like an emotional teen, but it’s really true. Everyone always talked about things I couldn’t relate to. Stuff like parties, relationships, themselves, their families. I just...never really worked like that,” Keith paused, his face unreadable.

“Oh, that’s... really sad actually.” Lance cleared his throat. “Now you get to ask me a question.”

Keith looked away, trying to clear his mind, “What are you most self-conscious about?”

“Uh, honestly everything. Like I’m afraid people won’t like me,” Lance replied, “It’s not terrible, but it still sucks. What don’t you like about other people?”

Keith wanted to reassure Lance that it’s impossible for people not to like him. He’s honestly one of the funniest, compassionate, and driven people Keith knew. But that would be weird to say, wouldn’t it? And besides, he had already changed the subject.

“If you mean traits, I hate people who are selfish and cowardly. I mean– everyone has their moments, but all the time? It’s just so annoying and frustrating,” Keith ended his small rant as Lance finished his final stroke of paint on Keith’s last finger. The new layer turned to a dark forest green to match the rest of his nails, along with his mood.

“Woah, this actually looks okay. Where did you learn to paint nails?”

“Sisters,” he responded quickly. “I used to help them get ready for prom and stuff like that. I also learned to braid hair and do makeup like a professional.”

“Wow, really? That’s actually pretty cool.” Keith lightly blew on his nails for them to dry.

“How long do I have to wear this? Like, don’t get me wrong. It’s actually really cool, just not my style.”

“I don’t care how long you keep it on, but at least for the rest of today. I mean since it took forever,” he said capping the nail polish.

“Alright, alright. It’s your turn to ask me a question,” He flashed a shy smile at Lance. No matter how much he talked to him, he still gave him a fuzzy feeling in his gut. Or maybe it was nausea, Keith didn’t know anymore.

“Alright, uh... why did you get along with Shiro so well?” Lance asked.

Keith was taken aback by the question.

“Me and Shiro? I met him while I was staying at one of my foster homes. He was the only person who genuinely cared about me. He treated me more like a friend than a tag along, unlike most of the kids I met. So...yeah. I don’t know if that answers your question but...” Keith trailed off. This was definitely an uncomfortable experience for him. He didn’t like sharing about himself, especially his past. It made him vulnerable. But if it had to be with anyone, Keith was glad it was Lance.

“I never would’ve thought that’s how you met,” Lance replied, “Anyway, Your turn to ask me something.”

“My nails are dry enough,” Keith thought aloud, "Now we can go back to the original game. Truth or dare?”

"Dare, I guess," he responded.

A smirk crossed Keith’s face.

“Alright, you’ve proved to me that you can dance alone. I want to see if you can partner dance,” Keith said slyly, “Dance with me?”

Lance blinked, looking caught off guard.

"O-okay," he answered quickly, "What kind of dance though? Waltz? Freeform?"

“Whatever you think is best.” ‘Oh shit. What am I doing? What am I doing!?’ Keith hid the absolute fear in his eyes. ‘I can’t dance. This is going to be a disaster.’

“Let’s do the waltz then because it’s easy and I assume you don’t dance very often,” Lance stood up and pulled Keith to his feet.

“Put this hand on my shoulder, and I hold this one,” he said, guiding each hand, “Now imagine there’s a box on the floor. You step to each corner for each dance step. Then repeat.”

Keith nodded in response and began to follow Lance’s fluid movements. At first, Keith had trouble finding the rhythm. ‘Not my fault.’ He mentally protested. ‘There’s no music.’ Soon Keith began to match the sway if Lance’s hips, and damn if he thought Lance could dance before, then he was in for a real treat now.

His movements were smooth and planned while Keith stumbled along to follow him. Most of the time Keith felt slightly awkward in the silence, but there was a split second where he met Lance’s eyes. The edge of Lance’s lips curled into a small, encouraging smile. That’s when Keith knew that everything here was going to be okay.

“You’re getting the hang of it now,” Lance said softly, “It’s not that hard once you know what you’re doing.” He stepped into the fourth movement and then repeated the first. Keith was starting to glide easier, and he had found the beat a while back. Overall, this was going pretty good.

Most of Keith’s fear evaporated, but all of the spinnings helped it morph into something else. One Keith was able to stop focusing on Lance’s perfect features, he could feel the wild churning of his stomach. “Lance, I think we need to–“ Keith didn’t finish his sentence before he ‘lost his lunch.’

“Holy shit dude!” Lance yelped, jumping back. Lance hurried Keith to the bathroom and sat him there.

“You are staying right here until you’re good.” He gently brushed Keith’s hair away from his face and held it there while Keith emptied the rest of his stomach.

“Are you good?” Lance asked hesitantly.

“Nope,” He answered, popping the P, “I feel like shit. But at least I’m not nauseous anymore.” Keith managed to spit out those words before a few more sessions of dry heaving. As he did so, the green of his nails faded to a deep violet.

“I’m assuming we’re done with truth or dare?” He joked while pushing himself up. ‘I am aware that I probably look like a sick moron. Praying that he doesn’t bring that up...’

“Definitely, And you are going to lay down,” he said sternly. Lance helped Keith back upstairs and to the bedroom. He eased him into the bed and sat next to him.

“No more moving for you, Mullet.”

“I can’t say I’m upset with that idea,” Keith shrugged, “Do you think there are any Altean movies we could watch? Sitting here all day would be boring as hell.”

Did Alteans even have movies? They probably did, given all the incredible tech they had.

"I'm not sure, but I'll message Allura if you really want to watch something."

“Anything to pass the time,” Keith answered simply, “Is that what you want to do? Considering you’re stuck with me I think you get a say.”

Lance shrugged.

"It doesn't matter to me," he said, "I'll message Allura now." And message Allura he did.

Turns out Alteans did have movies, and a few were even stored in the castle database.

"Apparently, they're here," Lance said, opening a tab on one of the holographic screens. He selected a video file and hit play.

"There we go."

The hologram flashed with color as the movie began. Although Keith couldn’t read Altean, the cover of the movie said enough.

“Lance, are we seriously watching an Altean romcom?”

"I just picked something random okay?!" Lance exclaimed defensively, "although I am pretty interested to see what this contains."

“I wonder what Altean romance is like? Probably like ours. I don’t really know what I’m expecting, but–“ Keith stopped himself from speaking, “I’ll stop talking and watch the movie.” Altean text flashed across the screen in vibrant shades before the actual movie began.

“Woah, is this what Altea looked like?” It was actually really pretty, and there were no falling, molten space rocks.

“It looks a lot like... earth actually,” Lance observed.

“Yeah, except for those large metal towers over on the left. They look like they reach into the upper atmosphere. The day earth completes something like that is a day I won’t live to see.” As the movie progressed, Keith could see how truly cringe it was. ‘But in a rom-com way,’ He reasoned with himself. ‘Wait does that even make sense?’

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lance said as he observed the movie. To Keith, it looked hilarious, but only because it seemed so cheesy.

“I wish I could speak altean so I could understand the movie better,” Lance said, startling Keith out of his thoughts.

“I think Pidge tried to learn Altean once, but then she suddenly stopped after the first lesson for some reason,” Keith shrugged.

“Speaking of Pidge, I wonder how she’s doing. Same with Shiro and Hunk. Do you think they’re okay?”

"The only one I'm really worried about is Hunk," Lance replied, "'Since he's the one coincidentally stuck with nausea." Lance frowned.

"What is this movie anyway?" He asked.

“I’m not sure, I can’t read Altean. And I’m sure Hunk is fine. He’s used to having an irregular digestive track anyway.” Keith shrugged and smiled at his own joke.

He then refocused his attention on the movie. Two dudes were now riding in some weird Altean version of a car. One of them looked really... emo stereotype-y? The other looked like he’d be a celebrity of some sort on Earth.

“Uh... is that an Altean version of a gun? I thought this was a romcom!” The confusion on Keith’s face was evident.

"I don't even know anymore," Lance agreed.

Keith tried to reason with himself. It appeared to still be a romcom but what was going on? At this point, he really wished he could understand altean.

As the movie progressed, things only got weirder.

“The guys are trying to hurt each other? What is going on!” Keith threw his arms up in the air exasperatedly. Unintentionally, his hand landed on Lance’s thigh when he put it down. He felt tense. Keith hasn’t even realized they’d gotten this close, but it wasn’t like he minded. So he didn’t move his hand away. ‘Don’t freak out. Pretend like nothing is happening. Don’t freak out don’t freak out don’t freak-‘ Keith could see the pigment costing his nails shift into a deep purple. ‘I’m so fucked.’

Lance though, did the unexpected. Slowly, he let his own hand join Keith’s, entwining their fingers. He gave no further attention to it after that and instead turned back to the movie.

“Maybe it’s like they are assassins or something? And they had each other as targets?” Lance commented, nonchalantly.

“Good thing we never had movie nights, I wouldn’t be able to deal with this more than once,” Keith’s voice felt strange, almost like it wasn’t his own. His voice was deeper and uncertain, two things that never happen. The feeling had only progressed when Lance’s fingers intertwined with his. Keith definitely hadn't been expecting this.

The sounds of the movie began to fade as Keith closed his eyes. His head fell on Lance’s shoulder before he couldn’t acknowledge what he as doing. Instead of pulling back, however, he stayed put. The rhythmic rise and fall of Lance’s chest slowly lulled him to sleep.

Something about Lance was just calming, like the gentle lap of ocean water onto a beach. ‘How and when did I fall for Lance McClain’ Was his last thought before the darkness consumed him.

 

\----------------- 

  
Keith began to stir, and the world around him came into focus. The hologram was now rolling credits, or so it looked. ‘The fact that Alteans are this similar to humans never ceases to amaze, and terrify me.’ Was his first thought. His second ended up being, ‘Why the fuck am I tangled up with Lance?’ But after the realization, he didn’t move. He lay still as Lance tightened his grip on the small of Keith’s back. At first, he tensed. But the soft rise and fall of Lance’s chest, that his head happened to be laying on, calmed him once more.

‘Just go back to sleep,’ A small voice echoed In the back of his mind. ‘But imagine how awkward it’ll be when you both wake,’ said another part of his mind. Keith sided with the first once and closed his eyes, which were already heavy. He, yet again, fell asleep to Lance’s touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still can't get over how long this is
> 
> holy hecc
> 
> well thanks for reading! 
> 
> Comments and Kudos fuel me
> 
> Please correct any sentences that make no sense thanks
> 
> Karii OUT! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	6. Day 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All I have to say is that this is tooth-rotting fluff
> 
> oh and a blackout
> 
> and our favorite gremlin
> 
> (did I mention they're out of the room now?)

Keith's sleep was disrupted by Lance's voice telling him to wake up.

His right hand, which was lying loosely on the bed, now gripped Lance’s arm. Even in his sleep, he seemed to be saying, ‘If you move, I can’t promise you’ll live to see tomorrow.’

Lance began shaking him instead.

Keith groaned.

“Lance, if you don’t stop shaking me I can’t promise you’ll live to see tomorrow.” Though his words were harsh, they held no malice. It took Keith a moment to realize the...situation. When he did, his eyes grew wide for a small moment and he pushed himself away from Lance, as much as he didn’t want to.

“S-so did you end up finishing the movie?” ‘Great conversation starter, Keith.’

“Nah,” he said nonchalantly, “we both ended up falling asleep.”

Keith watched from the comfort of the blankets as Lance stood up and stretched.

“Honestly, I think it’s for the best. I don’t think I could go another Dobosh through that torture.” Keith became less and less tense as he spoke. ‘I just need to forget that ever happened. Don’t think about how calming Lance’s rhythmic breathing was, or how nice his hand felt on your back. Don’t even think about how disappointed he looked when you pulled away.’ Because, honestly, the more he thought about Lance’s disappointed expression, more guilt began to build up inside.

“So, today’s plan? I mean, it’s not like we can do much, but any ideas in particular?”

Lance sighed and started toward the door.

"Well, we should probably eat first, then go from there,” he said, exiting the room.

“Sounds like a plan.” Keith stood up and took a moment to stretch.

“I’m going to shower, I’ll meet you downstairs.” Keith didn’t wait for acknowledgment, and instead, he rushed into the bathroom.

It usually didn't take Keith long to finish taking a cold shower, but this time was a different story. He became lost in thought, and guess who it was about? But, after about 35 minutes, he’d come to his senses and made his way downstairs.

“That was a long shower,” Lance noted, placing something on plates he had laid out on the corner.

“I made what I hope is waffles,” he said, sliding a plate across the counter.

Keith seized the plate before it slid off the counter and began to shuffle towards the table.

“Let’s hope.” Keith, with his hands, picked up a ‘waffle’ and bit into it.

“It’s shaped like a waffle,” Keith began with a mouthful of ‘waffle’, “But it definitely doesn’t taste like one,” He finished with a swallow.

“Not that it tastes bad or anything.”

“Good, you had me worried there,” Lance said, grabbing his own waffle from the counter. He sat at the table next to Keith and took a bite. “Yeah, this most definitely does not taste like a waffle,” he noted, eating it anyway.

“So...did you sleep well?” The question seemed causal enough. That is until the memories from this morning came creeping back into his mind. He, just barely, was able to keep the panic from his from his face. ‘I’m such an idiot I’m such an idiot I’m such an idiot.’ The words kept replaying in his mind.

Lance looked down at his waffle.

"We can talk about it you know. I'm not going to yell at you for bringing it up," he said, very obviously trying not to sound upset, "And I slept well, thank you."

“Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about,” Keith choked out. ‘I sound so childish right now, don’t I?’ Keith sighed and buried his head in his hands, which were still painted.

“Quiznak, I’m sorry for being a dick about this. It’s just– what is there to talk about?” Keith shoved another bite of waffle into his mouth to distract himself while he waited for Lance’s reaction. ‘There is so much to talk about, you’re just being very unconfrontational.’ A voice in the back of his mind echoed.

"Keith, what isn't there to talk about?" Lance urged, sounding tired, "We seriously need to get this sorted out. I mean, I know you'd rather not do this but we have to," Lance added, a small frown on his face.

“Okay, fine, let’s pretend there is something wrong. What is it?” Keith said in between bites. ‘Maybe the fact that you haven’t been able to communicate for shit since the day in the hall?’ Keith’s reoccurring voice of reason echoed.

"You refuse to acknowledge any of what's been happening. It's like you don't even want to! Like you don't care enough to say anything!" Lance said, his voice steadily rising. Frustrated tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and it took every fiber of his being not to cry.

‘The day hasn’t really even started and I’ve already fucked it up.’ Keith felt his heart hurt at the sight of Lance. His face was not only hurt, saddened, and angry– but disappointed. And that’s the thing Keith had always hated the most. When people were disappointed in him. His dad, teachers, Shiro, the team, and probably even the whole fucking universe. They’ve all felt that way towards him one way or another and he absolutely hated it.

So when he saw Lance’s face, it no doubt began to make his emotions stir.

“I’m not acknowledging anything because I’m scared! No matter how many times you tell me that you won’t disregard me when this is over, I can’t believe you. I’m sorry, but I just can’t. The smoothie is messing with your head! And if I let myself fall for you more, while you’re delusional, then I’ll just be hurt when you leave. And don’t try to tell me you won’t, because everyone I cared about has,” Keith could feel his throat tightening, “So don’t say that I don’t care! Because I do, way more than you realize. And that’s what scares me. One day you’ll leave me after making me care.” Frustration began to cloud Keith’s own thoughts.

“I can’t believe you thought that I didn’t care.” He had meant for the words to come out as fierce, but he just sounded...broken.

Lance immediately looked worse.

"I-I didn't..." He paused, and instead hugged Keith. "Please. I want you to trust me," he murmured into his neck. Lance tightened his grip slightly.

  
Keith didn’t say anything. He wanted to trust Lance more than anything, truly. But he did the research, and he knew the outcome. So instead, he just hugged Lance back, their waffles completely forgotten.

He pulled Lance even closer and could feel his tears and shaky, uneven breathing. His rested a reassuring hand on Lance’s back, which soon traveled up to his cropped, brown hair.

He wanted to tell him not to cry, but Keith couldn’t speak. He was rendered completely speechless. But that was okay because he would rather die than ruin this intimate moment. He could spend the rest of his life like this, with Lance in his arms. Because like this, everything felt...okay. No, it’s felt better than okay. The world around them seemed to vanish as the rise and fall of Lance’s warm chest held Keith in the moment. Just Keith and Lance. And as long as it stayed that way, everything would be more than okay; It would be perfect.

Lance stayed there, pressed against his chest before pulling away from Keith an inch or so.

"I want this," he said softly, leaning forward enough to pepper Keith's face with feather-light kisses, then seal their lips together in a gentle kiss. He pulled away slightly.

"And maybe we can have it," Keith said, barely audible. He leaned forward into the hug again, closing the distance between them.

“How do I know you won’t forget about me?” Keith muttered into the crook of Lance’s neck, it barely came out as a whisper. Keith made sure to squeeze Lance a little tighter than before, almost like he’d lose him if he were to let go.

“You have to trust me,” Lance muttered back, “Please. I know you’ve been hurt by people in the past, but I have no intention of being one of those people.”

“I—“ Keith bit his tongue to stop his own reply. ‘I know you’ve been hurt by people in the past, but I have no intention of being one of those people.’ His words kept repeating in Keith’s mind. ‘You have to trust me.’ Keith didn’t want to argue anymore. ‘It wouldn’t be your choice.’ He wanted to say. Instead, he buried his head further into the crook of Lance’s neck. “Okay. I trust you.” ‘Well, I’ll try.’  
Lance sighed contentedly and moved his hand to the small of Keith’s back. He rubbed gentle circles with his thumb as they hugged. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Keith unraveled himself from Lance but didn’t put any distance between them. Seeing the disappointed look etched on his face, Keith slipped his hand around the back of Lance’s neck. He gently nudged his head forward until their foreheads pressed together. Only centimeters away, Keith could see every detail on Lance’s face. But what really caught his attention? His eyes.

No matter how many times he’s seen them, they’ll never lose their beauty. The deep, swirling pools of blue stared right back into his own. And for what could have been hours, they sat there. Just gazing into each other's eyes, refusing to break the intimate moment they were sharing. That is until Keith took it a step further. Gently placing both hands on the sides of Lance’s face, Keith began to rub his thumbs over the toned skin on Lance’s cheek. Then, without warning, he pulled him closer, and they shared a kiss. Only, it was different than the other ones they’d shared. It wasn’t experimental or hazy. It wasn’t filled with worry, panic, and neither of them held back. It wasn’t driven by intoxication but care.

Vaguely, Keith could feel Lance move his hands to his neck and hair. Warmth bubbled inside of him, and he felt like he was floating. When they pulled away for breath, Lance spoke.

“I could get used to this.” The brunette pressed their lips together again before Keith could respond.

The whole world around the two had evaporated. Time, surroundings, and thoughts. They were too enthralled with each other to notice the fact that their waffles had gone cold, and that they’d been making out for the last ten minutes. What? You can’t blame them. So when Keith pulled away from Lance, he was a little disappointed for multiple reasons.

“Can I first say that that was great?” Keith said while trying to steady his breathing. Only one of his hands still rested on Lance’s cheek, and the distance between them was far more significant.

“And as much as I’d like to continue, I’m pretty sure breakfast is cold.” With one final trace of his thumb, Keith pulled his hand from Lance's face and began to shuffle backward in his chair. He felt less awkward— sure, but that didn't mean that Lance didn’t still make him nervous. But, in a good way? ‘This is why I never dealt with romance.’

Lance just nodded with a smile. He stood from his chair and took their food back to the counter.

"You're not going to eat this waffle now, right?"

“Yeah, no. It was good while it lasted, though.” Keith tried to sound as casual as he could, but he couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice. A question burning in the back of his mind was the source of his uncertainty, but should he risk asking it? ‘Does it even make sense? Am I being too nosy? Am I— no. I can’t overthink things. I just need to forget about it.’

“I’m glad you liked them while they were still good,” he said, heading back to his chair and sitting down.

“So...” Keith reached for Lance’s hand under the table. Blushing furiously, he gave it a light squeeze. “W-what should we do today?”

Lance thought for a moment.

"How about card games?" He asked, already getting up to go find some. After a 'sure' from Keith, he got up and made his way over to the game shelves. He was in the middle of looking when a loud buzzing noise sounded, and the lights flickered out. Lance shrieked and dropped what he was holding. It clattered to the floor, only causing Lance to yell again.

"U-Uh... Keith?" Lance called out hesitantly. He must've tripped because Keith heard a loud smack and a yelp before Lance recovered himself and said, "It seems I've fallen for you."

Keith snorted.

“That was the worst pickup line yet.” He almost sighed. But secretly, he enjoyed the terrible lines that Lance would roll out. If only they were directed towards him more often...

“Lance? Can you hear me? Where are you?” Keith reached blindly for the edge of the table and pushed himself up from the chair. He began to slowly make his way through the darkness.

“I think I’m by the living room,” Lance replied somewhere to Keith's right, “I’m pretty sure I tripped on the carpet.”

Keith began to stumble in the direction of Lance’s voice. And now that he was blinded by the darkness, Keith had to rely fully on his other senses. ‘I must be getting closer because I can hear the sound of Lance’s breathing.’

“Lance, I think I’m clos—“ Keith’s didn’t get to finish his sentence before he collided with Lance. Now, they lay on the floor in darkness.

“Well, Lance. Looks like I’ve fallen for you as well.” The words rolled smoothly off his tongue.

Lance laughed.

“We’ve fallen for each other,” He muttered. “Wait, Where are you?” Lance asked, feeling around on the floor.

“Wait,” he said, “Is that your arm or leg?”

“Knee, I think. If that’s your hand.” While trying to grab onto something— anything for support, Keith may or may not have backhand slapped Lance across the face.

“Oh shit, did I just bitch slap you?” Keith tried to sound concerned, but a laughter began to bubble in his chest.

"Ow," Lance murmured drily. "That was actually painful."  
When Keith felt Lance's palm pressed against his torso, Lance spoke.

"This is your chest, right?"

“Uh, Yeah. Spot on. May I ask why you are searching for my chest?” Keith asked hesitantly.

"Um... So I know how you're positioned," Lance replied. Keith felt Lance press up behind him, wrapping his arms around his torso.

"And so I could do that," Lance added, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Keith felt himself blush furiously. Thank the almighty being above for the darkness. He positioned himself to where his head was resting on Lance’s shoulder(or chest, he couldn’t really tell.) and his posture was slumped. The only indication as to where he was was Lance’s heartbeat. The continuous thumping was soothing, to say the least.

As the almost utter silence filled his ears, Keith firmly grasped Lance’s hands to make sure his arms stayed strung around him.

“You’re stuck with me until the power comes back on.” He lightly kissed Lance’s shoulder.

“Aaaaaand maybe a little after.”

"How does forever sound?" Lance asked quietly, squeezing Keith's hands, "Because I could literally sit here forever like this," he added, smiling into Keith's neck.

"The dark is nice because everything is hidden already, and you don't have to worry about looks for once. I seriously doubt you care but... That's just how I feel about it," Lance added. It seemed random, so Keith assumed he was just speaking his mind.

“Looks? You’re worried about looks?” Keith actually scoffed, “Lance. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. I wish the lights were on, just so I could see your face.” Keith winced at his own words. He had made this weird, hadn’t he? Whatever, what he had said was true, and he couldn’t deny that.

“I feel very appreciated,” Lance replied, “and now I know my ‘excessive’ use of beauty products is paying off.”

“Lance, they are more than excessive.” Keith fired back, but no malice hung in his voice. Lance gently rubbed his thumb over the back of Keith’s hand, then hummed softly.

Not long after, Keith let himself sink into Lance’s touch. He loved the way Lance rubbed his thumb over his hand, and the way Lance’s arms felt around his waist. Most of all, he loved the way Lance softly hummed into his ear.

Slowly but surely, the humming morphed into words, and Lance began to sing quietly.

“...Cause I, can’t help, falling in love with you...” His voice was soft and gentle, almost like he was comforting a child. In a way, Keith did felt comforted.

This went on until Lance stopped singing and sighed.

“No, don’t stop. I was just finding the rhythm of the song,” Keith protested, “And, your voice is...” Keith’s voice got so quiet that even he couldn’t hear himself.

Lance hummed thoughtfully.

“The song is over though,” he muttered back. “I mean unless you want me to sing something specific...?”

“No, it’s fine. We can find our own rhythm.” Unexpectedly, Keith twisted his body around and kissed Lance full on the mouth.

The kiss was unexpected and Keith could tell it forced Lance to lean back on his palms due to the weight shift. This apparently wasn't very easy because Lance's arms gave out, and he fell backward completely, taking Keith with him.

They stopped kissing just long enough to change positions, before connecting their lips again. Keith was now straddling Lance, and to anyone else, their positions probably looked... uh weird.

Keith’s fingers wrapped around the back of Lance’s head to keep it from hitting the floor and to pull him closer to himself. ‘Is this going to become a common thing between us? Because I could get used to that,’ Keith thought to himself as they broke away for a breath. It didn’t last long, because their lips crashed once more. He, again, began to feel lost in the kiss.

But that feeling didn’t last long when the lights flickered on. Keith normally wouldn’t have minded if it weren’t for the unsure voice he could hear from behind him.

“Uh...guys?”

Lance broke from the kiss and yelped.

“I-I agh!” He hastily twisted away from Keith.

“We weren’t- ack! Just don’t tell the rest of the team cause we’re never gonna live it down from Pidge!” Lance stared up at the hologram and Hunk looked back at them thoroughly confused.

“I Uh...yep. Won’t tell anyone. I’ll be to busy trying to erase those images from my mind.” Hunk dramatically squeezed his eyes shut as though he was trying to push through a painful memory.

“Anyway I just wanted to say sorry for the power outage, Pidge was–oh god, nausea!" Hunks eyes grew wide as he quickly dodged out of the hologram’s view. Confusion was visible on Keith’s face until he heard the sounds of retching filter through the sound box.

“Uh..thanks Hunk. We’ll just be hanging up now.” The sound of retching could be heard until Keith canceled the hologram. He felt the embarrassment begin to set in. ‘Maybe this was all a bad idea? What if the team judges us? What if Voltron doesn’t work?’ All the worst possibilities began to filter through Keith’s mind.

Suddenly, Lance broke into laughter.

“Oh god, did-did you see his f-face?!” He clutched his stomach, “It shouldn’t be funny but- man!” After calming himself enough to make coherent sentences, he sighed loudly.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lies. “Just...flustered.” ‘I’ll sacrifice my pride.’

“You?” Keith tried to change the subject as quick as possible.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lance answered, “Hunk’s pretty cool, he won’t tell anyone. OH! Uh... did you even want to come out about this or...?”

“If you mean what I think you mean, then yeah. Everyone already knew I was gay.” Keith shrugged. ‘Just avoid the topic, and maybe he won’t ask about. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, or hurt him.’

“Actually, I only figured that out recently, and I’m 99% sure Hunk didn’t either.” Lance’s eyebrows furrowed.

“And I meant If you’re ok with telling the team about us?”

“I–“ Keith couldn’t avoid this any longer. “I’m not ashamed of you,” He began, “In fact, I would make sure the whole galaxy knows about us if I could. But before I could do that...I guess there is one thing I would have to know.” Keith took a deep, prolonged breath.

“What are we?”

After a few seconds of silence, Lance took a deep breath and said, “Well, Keith Kogane, it would be an honor if I could be your boyfriend.”

Keith was barely able to stifle a small gasp. Him and Lance? Together? Boyfriends? He could barely comprehend the thought. But it’s what he wanted, right? Keith didn’t want anyone else to have Lance, that’s for sure. Just the thought of someone else kissing Lance made him want to gag. And he wanted to spend time with him outside of this shitty room, too. To go places and have fun. That’s what boyfriends do, right? He’d made his decision.

“Well, Lance McClain. I’m sorry to say that I wouldn’t like the idea of being your boyfriend,” Keith paused for a moment to see Lance’s face droop. Keith only smirked. This was his time to be a tease.

“I would love the idea of being your boyfriend.”

The second of disappointment apparently long forgotten, Lance tackled Keith into a hug. He pulled away after a minute or two.

“However, That was a low move, Kogane. Now you have to find a way to make it up to me,” he said crossing his arms, a faking a pout.

“I think I can manage that,” Keith smirked before cupping Lance’s face and pulling him in once more. The make-out session very long, but Keith was fine with that.

“Was that adequate enough for you?”

“Good enough,” Lance said, grinning, “Now, what are we going to do with the rest of today?” Lance turned around to look at the time. It’s around noon. How about we actually do card games now?” He asked, his eyes landing on the pack of cards. It had probably fallen onto the floor when he had tripped earlier.

“Sure,” Keith replied simply. And no surprise kisses this time, alright?” Keith sat down and crossed his legs.

“Wanna play war?”

"Yeah, sure," Lance replied, grabbing the deck of cards and situating himself across from Keith. He shuffled the cards and then put them in the center. Once everything was set, Lance took the top card.

The game of war didn’t end up lasting very long. Keith had one by a landslide.

“Now we’re even.” He grabbed both of their decks and began to shuffle.

“Play again? This time it’ll be easier to understand the Altean numbers.”

Lance shrugged, replying, “Sure.”

And so it went on. Round after round after round. It was nearly 4 in earth time when Lance’s stomach growled.

“Oh shoot. We forgot to eat lunch.”

Keith could feel his own stomach growling.

“Well, since you made breakfast it’s only fair that I make lunch.” Before Lance could protest, Keith pushed himself up from the cold floor and bounded towards the kitchen counter.

“I’m pretty sure we only have space goo, but I can try and improvise. Any suggestions?”

“I don’t really care, just make whatever,” Lance replied, trailing behind Keith. Sliding into a chair, he propped his head upon his palms.

“Alright, but you can’t complain when I make something you don’t like if you won’t give me suggestions.” Keith shrugged and began to open the cupboards. Searching through, the realization hits him. ‘I have no idea how to cook, and I just promised Lance I would.’ Keith mentally facepalmed himself. ‘This is going to be a ride...’

Keith began to pull random ingredients out of the cupboard that looked like they’d go together. Granted, he had no idea what they were. ‘I have a strong feeling that I’ll poison me and Lance.’

“Do you even know how to cook?” Lance asked casually from his spot at the counter.

“Yep. Definitely. Totally know how to cook.” ‘Wow, Keith, that was convincing.’

“What makes you think I can’t?”

“Well for starters, that wasn’t particularly convincing, and you literally just grabbed random stuff,” he answered, “If this kills me I’m blaming you.”

“Relax, I’m an expert at this sorta thing.” ‘I know I’ve just dug myself into a hole I can’t escape from, but he made this sound like a challenge.’ Keith took a deep breath in and began to pour and mix some of the ingredients. It was definitely a mess. But in the end, it actually didn’t look that bad. Now, they just have to see how it tastes. Putting the concoction into two bowls, he carefully placed them on the table before sitting down across from Lance. “This is Uh...surprise soup?” Keith shrugged and took a sip.

Lance slowly took a sip of his own.

“It’s actually not as gross as I thought it was going to be,” Lance commented thoughtfully, continuing to slowly eat the “surprise soup”.

“I’m probably gonna end up with food poisoning, and I’m going to blame you,” he added for good measure.

Keith shrugged.

“Then we’ll suffer together.” And with that, he took another mouthful of soup. Keith was actually surprised with his own “abilities to cook.”

Thankfully his soup didn’t turn out like 6th grade’s grilled cheese incident. He’d accidentally set Cindy Falcon’s hair on fire with a burning stove, which he also managed to set on fire, and she suffered from third-degree burns. So yeah, he was surprised he and Lance weren’t burning right now.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied staring down at his bowl.

“Again, if this kills me I swear.” As if on cue, Lance turned pale.

“I freaking told you!” He yelled, sprinting to the bathroom. As soon as he got there, he crouched in front of the toilet and uh... goodbye anything in his stomach.  
Keith wasn’t far behind, half expecting to be vomiting himself, but also wanting to comfort him. I mean, it was Keith’s fault after all. But as he rested a gentle hand on Lance’s back as he emptied the contents of his stomach, Keith never felt the all too familiar feeling of nausea. “Lance? Are you okay? Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it would literally make you vomit. I should have just let you cook instead but goddamn my pride.” Keith was now crouched beside Lance, who had ceased the dry heaving.  
“Yeah, you are never cooking again,” Lance said weakly. “Would you mind calling Allura or something? I still feel super nauseous,” he added, “and I’d rather not throw up on you or something. That would... suck.” He felt beyond tired, and honestly just wanted to stay on the bathroom floor forever.

“I can try. I don’t know if she’ll pick up. And uh...I know I already said it, but I’m sorry. At least now you get to understand my hangover suffering, but probably worse.” Keith teasingly smirked at that and left the bathroom where he and Lance had to reside. Fiddling with the hologram buttons, he’d managed to find a way to call...someone. “Please Be Allura please be Allura please be Allura...”

The hologram fizzled to life. "Keith? Is everything alright down there?" She asked, turning to face the hologram Completely. "Please tell me you haven't killed  
Lance."  
Keith darted his eyes embarrassedly. “Uh...not yet. Maybe. I may have poisoned him with who-the-fuck-knows-what and I don’t want him to die so...help?”  
Allura sighed. “We’re coming, keep him stable for now.” The hologram fizzled out, the image of Allura disappearing.  
As the hologram cut away, Keith made his way back into the bathroom. “Hey Lance, Allura is on her way. How are you holding up?”  
“Well... I feel better than I did when I was throwing up soooo... I’m holding up fine,” he replied, hugging his knees to his chest. “Or at least better anyways...”

Keith plopped down next to Lance on the bathroom floor and instinctually began to run his hands through Lance’s short dark hair. A wave of guilt washed over Keith. “Hey, you’ll be okay.” Keith planted a warm kiss on Lance’s cheek. And that’s when the thought struck him. “Hey uh, Lance. Before they get here I just want to clarify something. Are you okay with them...knowing? About us?”

“I want the whole universe to know that my boyfriend is the amazing Keith Kogane,” Lance said, smiling, “I’m more concerned about how they’ll take it. Besides, we don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to.”

Keith felt his face flush. “And what if I want the whole universe to know that Lance McClain is mine?” Words could not describe how much Keith loved saying those words. Mine. He repeated in his thoughts. But that didn’t distract him from the constant thoughts from filling his mind. What if the team doesn’t accept you? What if Voltron won’t allow it? What if Lance stops— Keith tried his best to drown out those thoughts.

“I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable or force you into anything. I’m not going to lie about the fact that I’m nervous...but we’ve faced worse before, right?” Keith couldn’t hide the anxiety in his voice, and frankly, he didn’t want to. It was a weird feeling to want to share things with Lance, but it was one he would certainly get used to.

“Right,” He said reassuringly, “We’ll be fine.” Lance smiled at him and sighed. He took Keith’s hand in his own and squeezed it gently. “Thanks for calling Allura.”

Keith chuckled at that. “Well, if you were to die on me I don’t know what I’d do with myself. And worst of all, it’d be from my own cooking. Granted, I had no clue what I was doing. I set this one girls hair on fire in middle school. I was that bad.” Keith leaned his head on top of Lance’s shoulder, their cheeks pressing together as Keith spoke. “I know I’ve said it so many times, but I’m sorry. I should have spoken up, but goddamn my pride. And because I’m so stubborn you’re suffering and—“ Keith paused a moment to clear his throat. “I know that I’m rambling, but you get the idea. I was never good at apologies.”

“It’s fine...” Lance replied. He was about to continue when the sound of the door sliding open was heard. “U-Uh, guys?” It was Hunk. Allura probably sent him to get him and Keith. “We’re in the bathroom,” Lance called.

The bathroom door slid open as Hunk entered the room. “Lance!” He was crouching on the floor in front of Lance in a heartbeat. “How are ya doing, buddy?” His voice was filled with genuine concern.  
“Well, I feel better than I did when I was puking, but I can’t guarantee I won’t throw up on you,” he replied. Lance wasn’t kidding. He actually still felt like throwing up.

  
“We need you get you to the med bay.” He continued. “Can you walk?” Before Lance had a chance to answer, Keith pushed himself up off the floor and outstretched his hand towards Lance. “I know what you’re going to say, but you need to stop being selfless for just one goddamn minute.”

Lance didn’t say anything in reply, he only took Keith’s hand and nodded. “Yeah,” he finally said, “But just so you know, I can totally walk, thank you very much.” Right after declaring this, he fell right into Keith. “Actually, my legs are really tired so I can’t walk at the moment.”

Keith scoffed. “Well, I guess there’s only one solution to that problem.” Keith promptly scooped Lance up in his arms bridal style. Now that he had Lance sitting comfortably in his arms, Keith pressed their foreheads together and lightly nuzzled their noses.

“This any better, my damsel in distress?” Hunk cleared his throat awkwardly, and Keith realized he’d forgotten his presence.

“UH...WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET TO THE MED BAY NOW OKAY MEET YOU OUTSIDE.” Hunk practically dashed out of the bathroom.

Laughter bubbles in Keith’s chest. “Tell me if you want me to stop for a moment, okay?”

"Much better," he replied through laughter, "Onward, my gallant knight!" Lance sobered for a moment. "Don't shake me though, I will puke on you."

“Yessir.” Keith stifled a laugh and marched onward. He took a moment to admire the hallways he’d always taken advantage of. Now that he’s been stuck in the room for so many days, he eyed the intricately patterned walls of The Castle of Lions as though he was a child. Hunk was waiting for the paladins at the end of the hallway impatiently. When they finally reached the doors of the medbay he spoke.

“This is where I’ve spent most of my time. Puking our all of your nutrients isn’t exactly healthy for the human body.”

Keith turned his head towards Lance. “Do you want me to set you down now?”

“Of course not, I’ll probably collapse on the floor if you do,” he protested. “And if anyone asks us what you’re doing, I’ll just say I couldn’t walk without throwing up, and you were kind enough to carry me. Foolproof.”

Keith flashed a closed-mouth smile towards Lance before taking the fateful step forward. The automatic doors slid open to reveal Pidge, Shiro, Coran, and Allura waiting in the Medbay.

“Hello, Lads. Nice of you to finally join us.” Shiro’s eyes widened at Lance and Keith’s arrival.  
Lance immediately zeroed in on Pidge’s face. More specifically the evil gremlin face that she usually had when she was up to something. This definitely wasn’t going to end well, but Lance tried to convince himself otherwise. “We’re here and I’m also still alive somehow. I mean what would you do without me?”

“I would rejoice.” Keith fired back sarcastically. But in reality, he didn’t want to think about what he’d do without Lance.

Hunk scoffed knowingly, which made Keith’s cheeks began to turn red. “Yeah, Keith, you would SO be crying tears of joy.” Hunk remarked mockingly.

Lance scoffed. “Well anyway, I need some healing. Coran?” He sent a quick glare at Hunk, then flashed back to his usual smile.

Keith knew he had to set Lance down, even though he was reluctant to do so. Before he set Lance free from his arms, he leaned his head closer to the blue paladin’s right ear.

“You’ll be okay.” He promised, quiet enough for only him and Lance to hear. Though he words weren’t exactly romantic, they held a new level of intimacy that the paladins hadn’t yet crossed.

With those words, Keith began to unwillingly lower Lance to the ground. Coran was there in a flash to grab the blue paladin before he managed to stumble to the floor. Keeping a supportive hand on Lance’s shoulder, Coran began to guide him towards a separate area of the medbay. Hunk and Shiro followed close behind, but Keith felt too guilty to join them.

Once everyone had left the room, Pidge turned to Keith.

"So," they started, "What's up with you and Lance? Hunk's been acting weird ever since he called you, so don't try avoiding the question."

Keith felt like a deer in headlights.

“Me and Lance? Nothing really. We decided that we didn’t hate each other and that we could be...friends.” Keith hesitated when uttering the word ‘friends’ because, God, Keith hated lying. Especially about someone so dear to him. But Keith decided it wasn’t the time to spill the tales of his romance with the team’s well-known gremlin.

"Okay then, I can either go through the security cameras, or you can just tell me," they smirked devilishly, "You just being friendly with Lance wouldn't traumatize Hunk."

“And who said it was us that traumatized him?” He chirped defensively. “Wait...cameras? We have cameras in our rooms?” That definitely made Keith feel violated.

"There are literally cameras in all of the rooms. That includes the one you're staying in with Lance," Pidge examined their nails.

"Easy way, or the hard way?"

‘She’s bluffing, Pidge is definitely bluffing.’ He decided. “You can’t prove anything.” But knowing Pidge, he began to regret those words. If there weren’t cameras there in the first place, she had probably even PUT some in there. Oh boy, he was fucked.

"Alright, the hard way," they smirked again, "Try explaining that nail polish."

“Truth or dare,” Keith answered simply.

"And how did you end up there? The Keith I know would never play Truth or dare on his own accord."

“Do you know how boring it is to play monopoly three times a day? You’d be begging to play truth or dare.” He shrugged. “And hangovers suck. Period.”

"Ooooh, Hangovers? Now we're getting somewhere. So, how exactly did you end up with a hangover?"

“Don’t you know how hangovers work? Alcohol. And I just happened to have way too fucking much of it.” At least Keith didn’t have to lie, right? What he was saying was mostly if not all truthful.

"So I'm assuming Lance got this alcohol? And what did you do while drunk off your ass?" Keith was bad at hiding information, and Pidge could obviously tell.

“Played more monopoly. I swear that game is not only making me question capitalism but my existence.” He deadpans.

"Alright, that's it, I'm checking the camera feeds," they said, rolling their eyes and heading towards the door.

“Wait, no!” He yelled, hoping for her to stop in her tracks. Alas, it was no use. Pidge didn’t even hesitate, so Keith began to reluctantly follow her.

"You have maybe 30 seconds to come clean," Pidge said, "We're almost there."

“There’s nothing to come clean about!” His voice was becoming more and more frantic as he spoke. “So why don’t we just go back to the medbay and wait for Lance?”

"That is such a lie, if nothing happened, then why are you trying to stop me from looking at the security feeds? 20 seconds."

“Because I hate the fact that our lives have been recorded? What if we ended up having a bro-bonding moment and shared some personal shit? Would you want to see that? I think not, so let’s just turn around.” Keith was mentally begging for her to agree with him.

"Yes actually, I would very much like to see this," Pidge insisted, continuing towards the door, "10 seconds."

“There’s nothing to—“ Keith stopped for a moment. What was worse? Having someone watch your woeful tales of love unfolded or tell them about it? Honestly, Keith couldn’t decide. He’d just hoped it’d turn out for the best. “I— there’s nothing— it’s not like we’re together or anything!” Keith mentally facepalmed himself. Words could not describe how much regret he felt uttering those few words.

"Is that a confession?" Pidge turned to face Keith, "Please do continue."

Keith felt his face burn red. “Confession? Nope. No confessions here.”

"AHA! I see blush! Now, spill," Pidge smiled, "I'm dying to hear the misadventures of Lance and Keith."

Keith saw no point in fighting it anymore.

“Lance’s smoothie-feelings made him kiss me for winning monopoly and I didn’t know what to do so I kissed back! And the next day we both got drunk and there was a ton of more kissing, like, I was blackout drunk but there was a lot. Then we slept together? Like in the same bed. And when I woke up I was so hungover, so we just played truth or dare and watched a shitty rom-com. Pidge, I swear to all things holy that boy is Shakira because those hips don’t fucking lie. Oh, and I ruined things by vomiting everywhere, but that’s beside the point. Then today I wanted to make breakfast because he’d been doing it all week, and I fucking poisoned him. I fucking poisoned him over my pride. But that’s okay because he’s my boyfriend now.” Keith was out of breath by the time he’d finished speaking.

"Wait, that's great and all, but were you doing in the dark that made Hunk freak out?"

“Making out.” He whispered, embarrassed. “On the floor.” Keith’s face deepened into a crimson.

“I thought for sure you were uh... never mind. I just imagined worse, that’s all. Anyway, you might want to check how your boyfriend is doing,” Pidge said, finally strolling off down the hallway.

Keith didn’t want to know what Pidge was originally thinking. But instead, he wanted to hide in his room until the end of time. Had he really just spilled everything like that? To Pidge no less? ‘Just focus on Lance, and forget all of your problems.’ His ‘voice of reason’ echoed throughout his mind. Sounded enough like a good plan, so Keith began to head back to the medbay.

Meanwhile, in the med-bay, Lance was having literally every test imaginable done on him. “Coran, look. I just need some anti-barf meds and I’ll be good. I Don’t need all these tests.”  
“Well, you don’t know what you’ve eaten, correct? Certain altean ingredients can affect more than just the digestive system. You already experienced this kind of effect with your endocrine system when its sensitivity was heightened by the space smoothies. Running these tests will give us the ability to pinpoint the exact places your body is being affected. Therefore, we can speed up the healing process.”

The automatic doors of the medbay slid open as Keith stepped inside. “Hey, Lance.” He greeted the paladin as he made his way over to the group.

“Keith, I swear if your shitty cooking kills me, I will personally haunt you,” Lance yelped. “YOU ARE NEVER COOKING AGAIN!” He yelled at him, “no offense, but this is precisely why.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo it's getting inERESTING
> 
> Comments and Kudos give me life
> 
> Please correct any shit grammar/spelling thanks
> 
> Karii OUT! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> edit: I am so sorry to anyone who had to witness that typo


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